At the present rate that the landfill in Jeff Davis Parish is being used, how much longer do they have before they have to shut down?

According to a Jeff Davis Parish Landfill Commission report filed last year with the state Department of Environmental Quality, the landfill has an estimated remaining life of 26 years.

The reckoning is based on the landfill’s remaining capacity, which the report lists as 9,042,070 cubic yards, or just under half its permitted capacity.

But Daniel Hylton, landfill director, said the site has land that can be included in its permit in the future, increasing its capacity and prolonging its life. The landfill, he said, will be around for “probably 50 years.”

The commission’s 2012 report listed unpermitted capacity at 8 million cubic yards.

According to the commission’s latest report, filed with DEQ in September, the landfill used 371,090 cubic yards from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013. A cubic yard is equivalent to 0.921 wet tons, which is what the report measures waste quantities in.

The year’s haul of municipal waste included about 122,942 wet tons of residential waste; 169,966 wet tons of commercial waste; 4,488 wet tons of trash; and 1,581 wet tons of domestic sewage sludge. The total was 329,197 wet tons. The report says the landfill also handled 13,798 tons of industrial solid waste.

Amount of municipal waste, measured in tons, the landfill has handled each year from 1988, when it opened, through 2012, according to landfill commission documents:

1988-1989 — 16,762.

1989-1990 — 129,843.

1990-1991 — 250,929.

1991-1992 — 296,259.

1992-1993 — 225,392.

1993-1994 — 320,644.

1995-1996 — 323,368.

1996-1997 — 300,356.

1997-1998 — 330,724.

1998-1999 — 341,491.

1999-2000 — 289,477.

2000-2001 — 335,931.

2001-2002 — 300,797.

2002-2003 — 306,540.

2003-2004 — 320,702.

2004-2005 — 296,461.

2005-2006 — 361,665.

2006-2007 — 299,358.

2007-2008 — 270,846.

2008-2009 — 263,779.

2009-2010 — 310,889.

2010-2011 — 302,375.

2011-2012 — 364,171.

How?

Readers frequently ask The Informer about how it finds the information it publishes in the column. The Informer usually credits phone calls and research. But the essential element, of course, is knowing who to call and where to look.

As lagniappe, The Informer will explain how it found today’s information. In the case of the above question, The Informer turned to the DEQ’s Electronic Document Management System, at http://edms.deq.louisiana.gov.

The search page is a daunting display of empty boxes and lists. To find the above information, The Informer first looked up the landfill commission’s AI, or Agency Interest, number by clicking “Lookup AI” and running a search for Welsh under “Municipality.”

Using the AI number — in this case, 12389 — The Informer then selected “Solid Waste” from the “Media” section; “Reports” from the “Document Type” section; and “Annual” from the “Document Subtype” section. That returned a list of annual disposal reports dating back 10 years or so.

The pre-2004 data listed above came from a landfill commission report The Informer found on the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Online: carpenter-media.go-vip.net.americanpress.com/informer.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.(MGNonline)