The Oswego County Energy Recovery Facility
The facility’s construction cost in 1984 – 1985
was
$14.5 million and included a $4.5 million EQBA grant, resulting
in a local cost of $10 million. The upgrade to meet new air
emissions standards cost the County $10.8 million.
All bonds for the facility are paid up and the Department of
Solid Waste system is currently debt free.
Today the Oswego County DSW manages approximately 90,000 tons
of MSW per year. 65,000 tons are combusted at the ERF, 25,000
tons are land filled, and 25,000 tons of ERF ash are used as
daily cover material in the landfill. Steam and Electricity
generated at the ERF are sold to Interface Solutions, Inc. and
National Grid respectively.
The Oswego County ERF employs 28 and operates 24 hours per
day 365 days per year. The facility accepts permitted haulers
24 hrs per day with an unmanned scale system. Since the 1999
upgrade the facility has conducted 5 stack tests to determine
compliance with emissions standards. Results have shown that
the air pollution control system reduces emissions to levels
well below federal standards. Emissions of dioxin/furans, lead
and cadmium are at less than 1% of the standard, while emissions
of mercury are at less than 30% of the standard.
This past year, the County invested $1 million for the construction
of a Ferrous Recovery System. The system came online in April
of 2009. The system was built at the south end of the plant’s
tipping floor and consists of an “in-feed conveyor”
a “rotary magnet” a “ferrous conveyor”
and a “processed ash conveyor”. Since the system
came online in April, 1,200 tons of ferrous have been recovered
from the ash for recycling and sale to the scrap market.
