Dive Brief:
- Residents of San Jose's Almaden Valley are upset about waste coming from neighboring Milpitas to the local Guadalupe Recycling and Disposal Facility. This could mean an additional 200 tons of waste and 22 to 37 trucks going to the landfill daily.
- The site is owned by Waste Management Inc., which was awarded the contract for Milpitas' waste over previous hauler Republic Services. In response, Republic Services of Santa Clara County gathered signatures to qualify a ballot measure for Milpitas residents to decide on cancelling the deal.
- One of the main concerns from San Jose residents is increased odor issues. Waste Management said the Bay Area Air Quality Management District hasn't detected any issues in more than two years. The Mercury News found 71 complaints since April, though their validity hasn't been confirmed.
Dive Insight:
As pointed out by Councilman Johnny Khamis, the opposition is ironic because San Jose currently sends waste to a landfill in Milpitas and accepts waste from the city of Los Gatos.
The Newby Island Landfill in Milpitas has faced questions over odor recently, too. A class-action settlement was tentatively approved in 2015 which would require Republic Services to invest in odor mitigation upgrades and pay households within a 1.5-mile radius of the site's composting facility. Republic has admitted no fault in this case, as reported by The Mercury News.
A new odor study was also conducted recently as part of the decision process about a proposed expansion at the Newby Island site. The Milpitas City Council will decide whether to put Republic's petition on the ballot in November or rescind the vote to award Waste Management the disposal contract on June 7.
