Trevor Lewis, Dufferin County's public works director, says the deadline for responses to a composting Request for Proposals has been extended to Jan. 23 from the previous Dec. 18, and the RFPs for thermal garbage treatment won't be issued until those have been reviewed.

The composting RFPs are for a facility to be built on Dufferin's 200-acre site at Highway 89 and the Amaranth-East Luther town line. It would be jointly controlled in partnership with York Region, and is not related to the recently announced proposal by Zero Waste Solutions, which has been approved in principle such that a feasibility study may be undertaken.

Also unrelated to the York partnership, an Amaranth facility proposed by Jemev Waste Recycling would be prepared to accept Dufferin's waste at $90 a tonne. Jemev has a facility at the Amaranth dump, and is proposing an incontainer one on County Road 11 just north of County 109.

Composting of organics and thermal treatment of Dufferin's solid household wastes are two separate and largely unrelated issues. The County currently has the authority to handle all organic waste (i.e. composting), but not other garbage.

Although most of the solid wastes generated in Dufferin has no home in the county, the towns of Orangeville and Shelburne and townships of East Garafraxa and East Luther Grand Valley lacking landfills, Amaranth, Melancthon, Mono and Mulmur have them and have thus far refused to let "outside" wastes in them or to let the county acquire the sites.

Arguably, the Amaranth and Melancthon dumps have a few years of life left without any major investment. Mono, however, is considering a proposal to expand its area to contain a leachate plume within its licensed boundaries, and Mulmur has to consider that its facility is situated on permeable land.

Oddly, although a recent informal survey indicated Mono's councillors unanimously support a countywide thermal facility, the same councillors are mulling an expenditure of at least $450,000 to purchase land adjacent to their dump.

This raises an interesting county dilemma. Mr. Lewis says there's a difference between the political wishes of the council and the reality of what can be done with respect to the thermal RFPs.

A review of the composting RFP responses and the recommendations arising from that, along with consulting with York, is largely in Mr. Lewis's court.

The originally suggested timeline for composting approval would have brought the preferred proponent before the council within the first quarter of 2008, and an agreement would have been reached shortly thereafter.

By that timeline, the thermal RFPs could have been released as early as February or March. That has been delayed by a month.

"It'll be a month or two before the RFPs (for thermal) can be issued. My concerns are the availability of time (while dealing with) composting," Mr. Lewis said.

When the RFP is issued, it will be for a "Dufferin only" facility with a capacity of 25,000 tonnes annually.

Possibly complicating things, the proponent would have to design, build, own and operate the plant - therefore at no capital cost to the county taxpayers. Mono could bank its $450,000.

Given the need for rezoning of Dufferin's 200 acres, along with the requirement for a new certificate of approval, it's unlikely that either the composter or the thermal plant would be in operation prior to 2010.

By then, the Michigan borders will be closed to Ontario's garbage - including Dufferin's.