Background

Solid waste collection coverage in Frontera Ribereña is approximately 94% for the five municipalities. An estimated 85 tons of solid waste are collected daily. However, the collected waste is improperly disposed of in substandard, open-air dumpsites, contaminating the region’s soil and groundwater resources, as well as creating disease-breeding and vectorinfested sites. An estimated 645,000 tons of accumulated waste has been deposited at these sites over the past half century.

In addition, these sites are subject to recurring, uncontrolled fires that produce airborne toxins, including dioxins from burning plastics and tires. Smoke from these fires affects the air quality of neighboring communities, including those across the border, such as Rio Grande City, Texas.

Moreover, because the municipalities have lacked adequate solid waste disposal facilities for years, several illegal dumpsites have emerged within these communities, creating additional disease-breeding and vector-infested sites, increasing exposure to gastrointestinal, parasiterelated and respiratory illnesses throughout the region.

Initially, each municipality planned to build a separate landfill in order to comply with Mexican federal standards. However, this plan was not economically feasible, so the five municipalities decided to implement a regional landfill. To that end, they purchased the land for the landfill and created the utility, Servicios de Limpia de la Frontera Ribereña
Tamaulipeca, to operate the facility.

Description

The Project consists of the following main components:

• Construction of a regional sanitary landfill in the municipality of Camargo;
• Construction of two direct-dump transfer stations, one in the municipality of Mier and the other in the municipality of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz;
• Acquisition of equipment for garbage collection and the operation of the landfill and transfer stations, as well as the transportation of solid waste from the transfer stations to the landfill; and
• Closure of the five existing open-air dumpsites

The site for the landfill covers an area of 16 hectares (39 acres). The landfill will consist of four cells covering 12.5 hectares (30 acres), to be built in four phases, and includes leachate and biogas control systems. The operating capacity of the first landfill cell is 31,500 m3 of solid waste. The estimated capacity of the entire landfill is 1,103,214 m3 of waste, with an expected useful life of 30 years. The operating capacity of each transfer station is 75 m3/day of solid waste.

Benefits

Implementation of the Project will prevent health and environmental problems associated with the inadequate disposal of solid waste, including exposure to gastrointestinal, parasite-related and respiratory illnesses, for the residents of Frontera Ribereña, as well as in Starr County, Texas. In particular, closure of the current open-air dumpsites will eradicate the breeding grounds of rodents and other vectors, as well as eliminate recurring fires at such sites. Moreover, by sharing a single facility, the municipalities were able to reduce capital costs by approximately 18%, as well as optimize operation and maintenance
costs.