Supervisors authorize stormwater prevention contract for inactive landfills

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors authorized the solicitation of proposals for stormwater pollution prevention services at county-maintained inactive landfills.

The May 11 approval also authorized the award of a two-year contract with two additional two-year options upon successful negotiations and determination of a fair and reasonable price. The unanimous vote also designated the director of the county’s Department of Public Works as the county officer responsible for administering the contract.

Although the County of San Diego divested its solid waste operations in 1997, the county has maintained responsibility for inactive landfills, bin sites, and burn sites. Regulatory agencies require 15 of the county sites, including the closed Bonsall landfill, to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System monitoring programs for stormwater runoff.

The county currently uses a contractor for routine stormwater pollution prevention monitoring and reporting services. That contract will expire on November 30. The contract will be for as-needed services; approximately $90,000 is budgeted for costs associated with routine stormwater pollution prevention activities while non-routine or special projects justify a total budgeted amount of $750,000 to cover such possibilities.

The contractor’s activities include performance of routine stormwater prevention pollution monitoring and reporting services, including regular testing of stormwater runoff samples, data evaluation by a certified laboratory, and preparation of annual reports for submittal to the State Water Resource Control Board. Non-routine services to be performed as needed include but are not limited to best management practices repair or replacement, attendance of public meetings, data gathering, and presentations. Special projects as required by the county or by the regulatory agencies include but are not limited to expanding stormwater pollution prevention monitoring networks and installing stormwater pollution prevention best management practices such as straw wattles.

The contract will be managed by a county hydrologist assigned to the Solid Waste Management section of the Department of Public Works.