s could affect the future of Lyon County’s landfill for construction debris, County Commissioners learned this week. But for now, commissioners are opting to wait and see how the rule making process goes before taking further action.

At this week’s county board meeting, commissioners discussed different factors — like timing and cost — related to possibly closing the construction and demolition landfill near Russell.

Currently, construction and demolition waste is managed at the Lyon County landfill, as well as at the Lyon County construction and demolition waste site near Russell, said Lyon County Environmental Administrator Roger Schroeder.

“Most of our construction and demolition waste goes back to Rock County,” Schroeder said. “Rock County brings us garbage a few times a day, and we send back construction and demolition waste to their demolition landfill in Luverne.”

Lyon County’s construction and demolition landfill does not have a liner to protect against soil and groundwater contamination. Under proposed new rules from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, unlined landfills would be incentivized to close down, Schroeder said.

“So there’s a few different options that we’re looking at on what timeline would be most optimal for Lyon County to be on for closing our unlined demolition landfill near Russell,” as well as the impact to people in the area, he said.

Fred Doran, of engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, said it was estimated that the new proposed rule for construction and demolition landfills would be published in early 2026. After that, there would be steps including a hearing in front of an administrative law judge, before a rule would go to the Minnesota Governor’s office for approval.

“Their goal is, by the end of 2026, they have these rules finalized,” Doran said.

So far during the rulemaking process, the MPCA has gotten comments that the proposed rule was acting too quickly for landfill sites to respond and close down, he said.

“Based on the proposed rule, they have a transition plan,” Doran said. Landfills would have different transition requirements to follow based on how soon they close down. Landfills that close after the new rules are promulgated would need to take steps like putting a thicker final cover of soil or a membrane over the landfill, he said.

Doran presented a few different options for the closure of Lyon County’s construction and demolition landfill.

“One of the options is just to close now. You’d have to pay for closure costs, and then there’s no operational costs beyond that,” he said.

Under a two, five or six-year transition period, there would be both closure and operational costs for the landfill.

With longer transition periods, the landfill would have revenue from waste being brought in. But, Doran said, “The costs are always higher than revenues,” he said.

Commissioners discussed when might be the best time to try and close the constriction and demolition landfill, and where construction debris would be disposed of when that happened.

“C&D (construction and demolition) waste disposals would go up if you close,” Doran said.

Demolition waste would have to go somewhere else, like into the main landfill. Doran said there could also be unintended consequences, like more people burning or illegally dumping demolition waste. New disposal costs could also potentially hurt development projects, he said.

Doran said there were also other factors the county needed to consider, like whether other C&D landfills in the region close, and what happens with the MPCA rule.

“If this doesn’t happen in 2026, it’s almost like you’ve got to see where the politics go,” he said.

“I think we’ll just wait and see where it goes,” said Commissioner Gary Crowley.

However, Crowley also said it would be “a waste” to have to close the C&D landfill early.

“We have the capacity, we’ve got a place to put this stuff now. Why not let us fill it up without penalizing us to do it?” Crowley said.

“That was one of the comments that we submitted on behalf of Lyon County,” Schroeder said. “Our site is not having significant environmental issues, we’re managing it well and we have the capacity. Let us maximize our capacity.”