Comment period runs to Sept. 21 on a combined landfill and biosolids permit for Petersburg Borough

Petersburg Borough residents have until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 21 to comment on a state permit setting five-year terms for the borough's landfill and its sewage-sludge composting.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation posted the notice Aug. 13, proposing one permit covering the Class III landfill and the biosolids facility, which serve 3,394 residents. Comments go through the department's online comment page.

Most household trash is not buried there. The application says municipal waste is baled and shipped to a landfill in Washington state.

Class III landfills need not be lined. The filing says a groundwater assessment was done and the department approved a waiver of groundwater monitoring.

Under 18 AAC 60, a Class III community landfill may take less than five tons of waste a day and must sit at least 50 road miles from the nearest Class I landfill. Biosolids may not be placed on land in Alaska without separate departmental authorization.

The landfill half is a renewal, not a first permit. Nobody was asked; this comes from the state notice and the borough's application.