County officials have an eye on Orcas in the wake of a recent and troubling inspection of the solid-waste transfer station on San Juan Island.

Depending on the fallout from that inspection, conducted March 10 by the state Department of Ecology, the transfer station on Sutton Road may be required to meet new, more stringent, industrial-based water-quality protections almost immediately.

If so, shuttling trash from San Juan to Orcas Island for processing is among a short list of options that the county may be forced to undertake until repair or improvement of the Sutton Road site is complete.

According to county Environmental Health Manager Mark Tompkins, who attended the inspection, the tougher requirements from DOE are a “distinct possibility.”

“The bottom line is that if the industrial requirement are imposed, we would have to ensure that no ‘process water’ (water that touches garbage or recycling) could enter stormwater runoff,” Tompkins said in a county-issued press release.

Ecology is expected sometime next week to layout the steps that the county must follow.

Meanwhile, tipping fees will increase across-the-board by roughly 5.7 percent beginning April 1. Self-haulers will pay $8 a can or $294 per ton once the rate-hike takes effect. Recyclable materials are collected at no charge.

Shortcomings at Sutton Road are no secret at Ecology’s regional headquarters. The site has operated under a DOE-approved waiver for the past three years. That waiver was issued after the roof and shed that once covered the tipping floor — where garbage is dumped by self-haul customers — was taken down for safety reasons. It was granted, and extended, in large part because the county has been in pursuit of a long-term solution, either construction of a new facility at Sutton Road or relocation of the transfer station.

Though many deficiencies are well known, the March 10 inspection included a first-time assessment by a member of Ecology’s water-quality division. The water-quality inspector, according to Peter Christiansen of DOE’s solid water program, is concerned an apparent mixing of “contact water” with stormwater runoff from elsewhere at the site poses a “significant risk to pollute waters of the state.”

It would take time, according to county Solid Waste Manager Steve Alexander, for necessary improvements to be made that would meet the tougher requirements.

“This would not just be a matter of putting a roof up over the tipping floor,” Alexander said. “We would have to resurface the tipping floor, put a roof over the appliance recycling area and the area where filled trailers are stored, build berms and drainage systems to capture liquid running off from the trailer pads and transport it for treatment. That would be expensive and could not be completed in a matter of a few weeks.”

Each year, the county collects, processes and disposes of more than 11,000 tons of garbage and trash. Of that total, San Juan Island accounts for roughly 50 percent. Tipping fees are expected to generate roughly $3 million in revenue this year, about $300,000 more than the previous year, according to the 2009 county budget.