Pictured, the ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the new cell at the Ellery Landfill. Pictured from left to right are: Brad Bentley, Chautauqua County Department of Public Facilities director; Aaron Gustafson, sanitation supervisor; County Executive PJ Wendel; Pantelis Panteli, landfill manager and deputy director of public facilities; and Ben Troche, intern in the County Executive’s Office.

FALCONER — The newest cell at the Ellery Landfill is open for business.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued the approved permit recently to the county, which allows the county to open and operate Stage 1 of the new Phase IV cell. In total, the Phase IV new cell consists of three build out stages and is a lateral expansion of the existing landfill and sits on 53 acres. The Phase IV Stage 1 sub-cell, which cost $18 million to construct, is about 15 acres in area and is composed of three five-acre compartments. The existing landfill footprint takes up 83 acres. Overall, the property that the county owns at this facility is over 800 acres.

“This is a culmination of over 10 years of work, the last four of which were dedicated to the construction of the Phase IV first stage new sub-cell,” said Brad Bentley, county public facilities director. “With the approved permit from the DEC, we can now utilize the first stage consisting of approximately 15-acres for the benefit of residents of Chautauqua County.”

The Ellery Landfill and transfer stations are operated by the county and are open to the public to utilize their services. This includes accepting garbage from neighboring counties only to the degree that these waste streams maintain the operation of the landfill for the benefit of the residents and businesses of Chautauqua County. Therefore, the extra waste and fees that out of county haulers incur, improve the County’s operational efficiencies and help keep the tipping fees for residents of Chautauqua County affordable. Otherwise, Chautauqua County garbage would need to be hauled to a landfill further away with increased costs to residents.

“This project has been several years in the making and I am excited to see it come to fruition,” said County Executive PJ Wendel. “Without this expansion capability, the Ellery Landfill was projected to have run out of space this year. Once all three stages of the Phase IV Landfill Expansion are constructed, it is anticipated to extend the life of the landfill for an additional 30 to 50 years for our residents.”

For more information about the Ellery Landfill and the transfer station phone numbers, hours of operations and contact information for each location, please visit chqgov.com/landfill/landfill. For more information about current Landfill rates, go to chqgov.com/sites/default/files/document-files/2021-04/Landfill%202021%20Brochure%20Binder.pdf

For more information on Recycling in Chautauqua County, visit chqgov.com/landfill/recycling.