Members of local town and county governments, as well as other members of the community attended a meeting in Guernsey this past Wednesday, Sept. 16, to discuss the possibility of a waste to energy power plant in the area.

American Renewable Energy Associates (AREA) is currently working in conjunction with other groups and businesses to explore the possibility of a waste to energy power plant. The plant would convert solid waste, obtained from municipal sources, as well as other forms of fuel, to generate power.

Stuart Powell, Engineering Services Manager at WLB Group, spoke on the potential project.

“The fact is, [solid waste] is a huge headache everywhere,” he said.

According to Powell, while recycling can recover as much as 30 percent of waste in some areas, on average, most areas in the nation recover less than 10 percent of recyclable matter. He said a waste to energy plant would dispose of the 90 percent of reusable waste that is currently going to landfills, as well as recycle items that could not be burned.

A solid waste plant would also use animal waste from feedlots, dairies and other similar operations, as well as general agricultural waste, such as timber, Powell said.

In assessing the Guernsey area for a solid waste plant, Powell said municipal waste would be obtained within a 120-mile radius of the plant, reaching as far as western Nebraska, and northern Colorado. In order to maintain the plant, a total of 800 tons of solid waste per day would have to be burned at the plant.

While the project is still in the exploratory phases, Powell was optimistic about having a plant in the area.

“We think that [all the resources] are here, we’re just not quite sure yet,” he said, adding, however, that “we have a pretty good idea at this point.”

Tom Montgomery, Senior Associate/Director of Las Vegas Operations at Henderson Engineers, Inc., pointed out the environmental and community benefits the plant would offer.

Montgomery said the plant would not only benefit the environment by removing municipal waste and reducing landfills, but would also create jobs, with an expected 110 permanent jobs at the plant itself. Montgomery added that 2.6 outside jobs would also be created or sustained for each job at the plant.

“It gives you payback from the plant, beyond just getting rid of your trash…it gives you these other opportunities too.”

While answering questions from the audience, Powell spoke on concerns about using transmission lines for the plant to export its energy. He said avenues such as supplementing the local Missouri Basin Power Plant in Wheatland, as well as utilizing a future line through the LS Power Company were among the options being explored. According to Montgomery, the market for the power could reach as far as California, and the demand for renewable energy sources was growing with new regulations in states throughout the nation, creating a constant market for the plant’s energy output.

The solid waste plant would also provide a steady base load, unlike wind or solar energy, which rely on wind and sunlight to generate power, and vary in their consistency, Montgomery said. He said this made a solid waste plant a good marketable base load either as a supplement to other renewable energy sources, or to non-renewable energy sources, such as coal powered plants.

Powell emphasized a need for local community support of the solid waste plant project.

“We’re going to rely on community leaders, and the community itself to tell us that [there is popular support] via [a] memorandum of understanding. If it gets to a point though, where…we’re going to be an enmity, then we probably won’t do it.”

Both Powell and Montgomery said the plant would have a minimal impact on both the environment and the community.

According to Powell, the plant would produce no smoke or other damaging emissions. Water used at the plant would be recycled with technology on the site, Montgomery said, and the plant would have ‘minimal’ effects on the local aquifer.

Montgomery said the plant would be placed strategically in order to be “nearly invisible” from nearby roads. He added that waste stored at the facility would be contained indoors.

Heather Foster, of Dove Professional Services, is working on the marketing aspects of the project. A Wyoming native, Foster said she was attracted to AREA’s project because of the benefits she felt it would give to the local community.

“It was something that I saw an ability to create jobs, an ability to clean up a waste problem, and have an overall good impact on the area. We don’t want to come in and change this place. We want to bring in something that’s going to be a benefit to everybody.”