Rasmusson secures $8.5 million for Otter Tail waste projects

State Sen. Jordan Rasmusson helped secure nearly $8.5 million for solid waste projects that could reshape how Otter Tail County and its west-central Minnesota partners handle trash, ash and landfill space for years to come. The money is aimed at turning a costly waste stream into usable road material, while also easing the burden on property taxpayers who help pay for the system.

The largest piece, $7.267 million, came through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Solid Waste Capital Assistance Grant Program for the Prairie Lakes Municipal Solid Waste Authority’s Ash Recovery and Recycling Center project. Another $1.177 million came through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources for construction and equipment tied to ash storage and recycling operations in Otter Tail County. Rasmusson’s Senate bill, S.F. No. 4965, was introduced April 7, 2026, with co-authors Sens. Utke, Kupec and Johnson. It called for money to Otter Tail County on behalf of the five-county joint powers board.

The project would fund an ash recovery and recycling waste processing plant, along with a waste transfer station. Under the bill language, the ash facility would divert ash from landfills into road construction material and recover ferrous and nonferrous metals. The transfer station would receive municipal solid waste and demolition waste for transfer to regional facilities. That matters in Otter Tail County because the county’s waste system is already tightly linked to the Prairie Lakes Municipal Solid Waste Authority, which became owner and operator of the Perham Resource Recovery Facility in 2011.

The authority serves Becker, Clay, Otter Tail, Todd and Wadena counties. County materials say those five counties deliver more than 60,000 tons of solid waste a year to the Perham facility, which processes about 54,000 tons annually. The system also produces roughly 10,000 to 11,000 tons of ash each year, ash that must be managed at the Northeast Otter Tail landfill near New York Mills. Otter Tail County says its Northeast Transfer Station is at 50356 Landfill Road in New York Mills.

County officials said the new infrastructure should improve long-term efficiency, reduce hauling distances and extend the useful life of existing landfill assets. They also said state participation helps lessen the burden on county property taxpayers while keeping the region able to manage waste safely and efficiently. The state grant program itself is built around that kind of local need, and the MPCA says it has provided more than $100 million to support over 100 Minnesota projects since 1985.