GFL, Illinois city at odds over landfill

A city council meeting this week in Peoria, Illinois, has resulted in the issuance of a council communication document that accuses Canada-based GFL Environmental of “actively delaying" the construction of a landfill in the central Illinois city.

The nine-page document, dated June 11, and based on information from the Peoria Department of Public Works, also includes a proposal to reopen a closed municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill in Peoria by adding capacity via additional airspace.

Additionally, the city is cooperating with Houston-based WM to offer inducements for that firm to extend the life of an existing landfill within the city’s boundaries.

The WM proposal may be on the fast track for approval, since Peoria officials say the landfill it currently operates will reach capacity later this year.

The document refers to the WM-managed property in Edwards, Illinois, as Landfill No. 2, the as-yet-unopened GFL property as Landfill No. 3, and the closed landfill being studied for airspace expansion as Landfill No. 1.

The council communication document states that Peoria city employees have “actively engaged GFL in attempting to prevent their stalling tactics with limited success to date” regarding the potential opening of a new landfill.

GFL inherited the obligation to build and open the landfill as part of its 2021 acquisition of Peoria Disposal Co.

“On Friday, April 12, 2024, the state's Attorney’s Office, in their role as legal counsel to the City/County Landfill Committee, served notice to GFL that they were in breach of the Landfill No. 3 agreement that all parties had approved over a decade prior," the city of Peoria says.

That move could be the predecessor to legal action.

“The breach notice is a necessary step prior to the initiation of litigation,” the council document reads. “The Landfill Committee hopes to avoid litigation but is fully prepared to take the steps needed to ensure GFL delivers on its contractual obligations.”

Central Illinois media reports indicate the construction of Landfill No. 3 ran into one potential barrier last year, when mapping conducted by GFL reportedly indicated portions of an abandoned coal mine might lie beneath its proposed landfill site.

In the meantime, the city seems to have maintained a cooperative arrangement with WM, including agreeing to waive a previous $1.50 per ton fee on inbound material into Landfill No. 2.

With Council’s approval, the city will waive that fee in exchange for WM diverting all waste not from Peoria’s residential waste hauling contract to another landfill. The goal of diverting the noncity waste is to extend the life of Landfill No. 2 so there will be fewer months between the closure of Landfill No. 2 and the opening of Landfill No. 3.

With the future of Landfill No. 3 still unclear, the city is set to work with Wisconsin-based Foth Infrastructure and Environment LLC to design a potential transfer station and study the feasibility of adding airspace capacity to its Landfill No. 1.

Regarding that effort, the city says it intends to engage Foth to investigate the tasks required to site, design, permit, bid and construct a "piggyback option," or additional vertical capacity, at Peoria City County Landfill No. 1.