Idaho Mill May Construct Landfill Lumber Firm Wants To Dispose Of Ash From Wood-Fired Boilers

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. is considering building a landfill at its Post Falls mill to dispose of ash from its wood-fired boilers.

Company officials say this is one of several ways they might handle the ash, which currently is stored at the dimension lumber mill site. They say it’s too early to comment further.

L-P uses boilers to dry the lumber milled at Post Falls. Those boilers are run with “hog fuel” - wood scraps, bark and sawdust. Company officials could not say how much ash the Post Falls boilers generate each year.

The Idaho Division of Environmental Quality has determined that the ash is not hazardous waste.

Panhandle Health District officials, meanwhile, will meet with Kootenai County commissioners Wednesday to figure out how to issue permits for the landfill, if L-P decides that’s the way to go.

It creates an interesting regulatory question for the Health District. L-P needs a county permit to build a landfill because the company wants to dispose of waste on private property.

Normally, that means the question of a permit would fall within the regular planning and zoning process. But the mill is inside Post Falls city limits, so county planning and zoning regulations don’t apply.

Yet, the Health District can’t issue its permit for the landfill if the county doesn’t issue a permit.

Things don’t get a lot clearer if and when the county and the Health District decide to issue permits.

The ash qualifies as non-municipal solid waste and there are no specific Idaho laws for how this type of waste is handled.

There are just broad guidelines that are “nebulous at best,” said Ed Hale of the Panhandle Health District.

Panhandle Health District makes its decision based on factors like the type of disposal site and the character of the waste. “We try to do something that’s reasonable that’s going to protect public health,” Hale said.

The concern with ash generally is due to its alkalinity. There have not been problems with ash waste landfills in Idaho “that I’m aware of,” Hale said.

, DataTimes MEMO: IDAHO HEADLINE: Mill may construct landfill