Updates Coming to Talkeetna Transfer Station

A compost program is coming to the Mat-Su Borough, thanks to an Environmental Protection Agency grant. About 5,000 pounds of yard debris are collected throughout the Borough each year. 

The Borough Assembly will vote to approve 1.44 million of the 3.5 million dollars from the EPA on October 1st. No Borough funding match is needed for the grant. Borough Solid Waste Division Manager Jeff Smith says the funds will help improve infrastructure and clear about three acres to accommodate the compost facility at the central landfill.

Smith says the Solid Waste Division already has a shredder. And there will be no need to add staff to operate the program. In addition to the updates at the central landfill, funds will also go toward upgrading transfer sites, including the one in Talkeetna.

Smith says the Talkeetna site will get a brush container to make it easier to haul to the central landfill. The transfer site entrance will be moved to the side of the facility to take it off the Spur Road. And the scale house will be moved and upgraded to make it warmer in winter. The changes are expected to make it easier and safer to move around the site.

Once the program is operational, the finished compost will be brought back to Talkeetna for residents. After the funding is approved, the equipment will be ordered. Smith says the equipment procurement process is expected to take a year or more. He expects the program might begin operating next summer.