In the new year, Truckee is looking into establishing a dedicated green waste facility.

The project is primarily being led by Town Manager Jennifer Callaway. In partnership with this project are the Truckee Fire Protection District, Truckee Donner Public Utility District, and the Truckee Tahoe Airport.

Truckee is currently in the process of completing a scoping study for the green waste facility, conducted by Wildephor Consulting Services.

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Callaway said there are many reasons to consider this kind of facility, due to the need for clean disposal of green waste.

“The (Eastern Regional Landfill) site is very full of green waste, and while it used to not cost to dispose of it there, we now have to pay because they have limited space for it. With our wildfire mitigation efforts we would like a clean, safe way to dispose of product,” Callaway said.

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A second reason Callaway gave to open the facility would be the environmental benefits, as the green waste would not have to travel as far in order to reach its destination.

Callaway expects to bring a report to the Town Council, Fire District Board, and Airport District Board at month’s end or early February.

“Depending on the direction received by our boards, we may move into a further refined feasibility study for a project. That is yet to be determined,” Callaway said.

Callaway expects that this project is currently several years away from being completed, as it is still in its early stages. A feasibility study is required before the project’s cost is known.

“Probably the single most important mitigation thing that we can do is reduce the amount of flammable fuels in and around our neighborhoods in the wildland urban interface,” Truckee Fire Chief Bill Seline said.

Seline said many fuel inspectors have told him that people in the community struggle with finding a place to get rid of their green waste.

“We try to give them a lot of options to get rid of fuels… it’s a huge barrier. People don’t want to cut down a bunch of brush and limbs if they have to haul it to the dump and they don’t have a pickup truck or they don’t have the time or money to do that,” Seline said.

Seline said the recently passed Measure T should help to fund the new facility, if the town decides to move forward.

He also mentioned that a possible location for the new facility would be at the Truckee Tahoe Airport.

“We’re spending all of this money trucking the material down there, so it’s not as green as we would like it to be… and we run into backlog… The problem is not getting better, it’s getting worse. So we’re all looking for better, easier, and less expensive ways to get rid of the material,” Seline said.

The Truckee Fire District is also planning to implement a curbside pickup for green waste for this summer.

To find out more about green waste options, visit http://www.mynevadacounty.com/2775/Green-Waste-Disposal.

Elizabeth White is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at ewhite@sierrasun.com