◆ Regional waste management district set to be in place in 2021.

Lincoln County Landfills and waste management will soon be under the direction of a regional waste management district, according to Lincoln County Commissioner Robert King.

The regional district includes the Idaho Counties of Bear Lake, Caribou and Oneida, along with Lincoln County, Wyoming. Efforts to take a regional approach to waste management have been in the works for more than two years, King said.

The regional district is under the direction of a district board made up of residents of each of the counties involved, King said.

Beginning on January 1, 2021, the regional waste management district will assume all responsibility of the management, operations, property and equipment at the landfills and transfer stations in each of the counties. County landfill employees will then be working for the district rather than the county, King said.
According to King, taking a regional approach to waste management and landfill operations makes financial sense as well as environmental sense.

“This will reduce our costs,” he said. “It will also shorten the distance to haul landfill waste. As most people know, at this point the landfills in Thayne and Cokeville are basically transfer stations to the landfill in Kemmerer. By taking that refuse over to the new landfill in Soda Springs, that reduces our cost.”

According to King, the land for a new landfill near Soda Springs has been purchased and is now in the landfill permitting process.

The idea of taking a look at what makes sense across a region when it comes to waste management is a new approach, King said.

“There are a lot of counties looking at what we are doing,” said King with regards to the new waste management district.