After lawyer Jennie Cordis Boswell from the Peoria County State’s Attorney Office on

April 19 filed a breach of contract notice with Green For Life Environmental (GFL), Peoria County, the City of Peoria, and their joint committee overseeing the Peoria landfill have started planning for options to GFL’s apparent reluctance to build Landfill #3, part of the Canadian corporation’s obligations when it bought the previous provider, PDC.

The latest delay stemmed from an old Illinois Geological Survey reference to an abandoned mine under the property — concerns eased when the state Illinois Department of Natural Resources found that the abandoned mine was in a different coal seam than previously thought and was not an obstacle.

However, though Landfill #3 construction bids had gone out, and it could take years to complete the project, GFL did not resume work, officials said.

“GFL’s continued inactions and delay tactics over several years dating back to April 2022 resulted in the notice of contract breach,” commented Peoria County administrator Scott Sorrel.

Moving forward

Any lawsuit from the dispute could be filed any day. Meanwhile, local government are searching for options.

“At this time, the City-County Landfill Committee has asked their contract engineer, Foth Engineering, to study and prepare recommendations to do any, all or none of the following,” Sorrel said, “— site and construct a transfer station at the City-County Landfill; calculate the airspace and plan the process to reopen Landfill #1; and design and site Landfill #3.”

A transfer station would collect trash and transport it to a landfill elsewhere. The nearest is Indian Creek Landfill three miles west of Hopedale in Tazewell County, but it’s also owned by GFL. Plus, there are 14 other landfills within 100 miles of Peoria, from Springfield to the south and Dixon north, to Macomb west and Pontiac east.

“Under all three scenarios,” Sorrel continued, “the premise would be the City-County Landfill Committee is both the owner and the operator. This differs from the current arrangement where the Committee is the owner but has a contracted operator (Waste Management for Landfill #2 and GFL for Landfill #3).”

Negotiations

City Treasurer Stephen Morris, chair of the City-County Landfill Committee, is optimistic.

“The Committee continues to have positive discussions with leadership within the GFL organization,” Morris said. “I remain hopeful for the City, County and Landfill Committee that we can all arrive a mutually satisfactory, global resolution. In the meantime, I believe the actions being taken are in furtherance of a commitment to investigate and pursue all options to ensure reliable, affordable, and responsible disposal of our waste streams.”

Indeed, possible progress in recent discussions with GFL caused the County and City to postpone additional spending of tens of thousands of dollars for Foth to consider alternatives for county trash when Landfill #2, which opened 26 years ago, reaches its limits in the next several months.

While both the City and County are waiting for GFL, plans are underway to change the current operating agreement with Waste Management, Sorrel said.

“One of the actions taken by the City-County Landfill Committee was to approve an amendment to the Landfill #2 operating contract with Waste Management. Under the terms of that contract, Waste Management shall pay the City, the County and the Landfill Committee a fee every year that is equal to a minimum amount of waste brought to the landfill. If the incoming waste is less than that amount, then the minimum fee ‘kicks in.’ If the incoming waste is greater than that amount, then the three entities receive revenue based on the tonnage brought to the landfill.

“The Committee’s action was to waive the minimum fee payments in calendar year 2025 in exchange for Waste Management trying to extend the life of Landfill #2,” Sorrel added. “The result of this contract amendment is that the City, County and Landfill Committee will continue to receive revenue in 2025, but the amount will be dictated by the actual volume coming into the landfill.”

Depending on which of all of the temporary options is picked, residents could see a rate increase, Morris said.