Supervisors to Consider Hiring Consultants for Landfill Study

The Board of Supervisors will decide today whether to hire merger-and-acquisition specialists to study various options for the county’s landfill system, including selling the dumps to a private operator.

Under the proposal before the board, the county would pay A.G. Edwards & Sons and Alex, Brown & Sons as much as $100,000 to complete a report on the future of the county’s four active landfills and more than 20 closed facilities.

The study would examine several ideas for using the landfills, including selling them, leasing them, hiring a private management firm or keeping the system under the control of the Integrated Waste Management Department.

The report will be presented to the Board of Supervisors in the fall.

If the board decides to pursue a sale or lease, the two firms would likely assist in the process and earn a percentage of the transaction price.

Some cities and trash haulers have expressed concerns about selling or leasing the landfills to the private sector, fearing such a move might result in environmental problems.

Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors rejected a $300-million bid from the Sanitation Districts of Orange County to purchase the system, contending that the facilities were worth more.