Landfill Fees Are Old News

For the Valley County Landfill, illegal dumping is not a new thing. In fact, an article in the Courier from 1995 and an article in the Good Evening Glasgow in 2000 each address illegal dumping or the assessment of fees for dumping “above and beyond household garbage” at sanitary landfills around the county.

The issue has been so widespread in fact, that the first camera monitoring systems went in 20 years ago and the fees—the exact same ones in place today—were established around that same time.

“We just didn’t put any teeth into them,” explained landfill manager Brian Austin. He says that the landfill first passed fees for dumping above and beyond household trash in the late 1990s but were unable to do much about enforcement at the time since they were not considered fines.

Fees though can be assessed to anyone identified as dumping trash above normal household garbage at remote sanitation sites. A failure to pay the fee can turn into a “theft of government services” charge, which is a misdemeanor crime.

The problem 20 years later though, has come to a breaking point. Possible budget shortfalls due to the loss of revenue from scale traffic mixed with the increased expense of having to pay the sanitation contractor T&R Trucking to haul remote dumpsters to the dump more often has exacerbated the budget, leaving little wiggle room. As a result, the board decided to push enforcement and co-op with the public in stemming the issue.

“It’s the taxpayers that are getting screwed,” said Austin, explaining that the dumping of construction materials, large waste loads, mattresses and furniture at the sanitary sites has overtaken the budget and ultimately gets billed to the rate payers.

The enforcement of the fees for illegal dumping is a way to try and solve that problem without increasing rates for every rate payer in the refuse district.

“We’re trying to stay solvent,” explained Austin, adding that the district is trying to be financially responsible by building a capital improvement fund for the millions of dollars of equipment at the landfill and maintaining a balanced budget for the taxpayers.

The fees solve two budget problems. One, they encourage people to take their waste that exceeds household garbage over the scales, which generates a small amount of revenue—the costs are low, only $30 per ton of waste and even less for smaller loads—and two, they reduce the need to empty the remote site dumpsters as often, saving money paid to T&R Trucking for the service.

One example Austin pointed out occurred last year when someone dumped a full deck into a dumpster near Nashua without dismantling any of it. Because the deck stuck out in such a way that the dumpster could not close properly, T&R Trucking spent three hours with a chainsaw breaking down the deck and fitting it into the dumpster for transport.

“Guess who they sent the bill to,” said Austin, “not just me, but you and everybody else in the district.”

The fees being assessed at the landfill are aimed at stopping such occurrences and saving everyone’s money. “It’s this or raise assessments on everybody,” said Austin. He pointed out again that the fees only apply to those illegally dumping excessive trash and not to normal rates and fees for using the scales, having trash picked up at your home or dumping household garbage at sanitary landfills. “So, a truck that would cost you $20 to $30 [to take over the scales] now costs you $400 [to dump at remote sites].”

Addressing frustration over the new effort to enforce the long-standing fees, the landfill manager said he understands people’s fear of change, but he also thinks it is overblown and misunderstood.

“It’s ruffling people’s feathers because we live in the middle of nowhere and everybody can do what they want,” said Austin, before acknowledging that the landfill trips are an inconvenience. But he sees it as just another stop to plan during trips to town alongside grocery shopping and the tire shop. He added that he views the inconvenience as being minimal when compared to the cost differences for both the county and the person dumping, as a normal load over the scales is around five dollars and illegal dumping fees start at $100 and climbs to $400 depending on size and contents.

He pushed back on complaints about the service’s hours as well, pointing out that the landfill is open six days a week for a total of 49 hours per week. The landfill opens at 7 a.m. and is open through the lunch hour as well as four hours on Saturday. He compared that to all other county government offices which are only open for 40 hours during standard business times and only on weekdays.

“We’ve talked about changing the hours some,” said Austin, but the ultimate decision is up to the refuse district board. Still he says that accommodating every schedule is impossible, but he wanted to emphasize that the board has, “addressed [the hours] some, but you can’t be open all the time.”

Enforcement still faces challenges. Cameras are being planned for the remaining remote sites in Valley County but right now they are only present at two sites. As a result, the refuse district relies on the public to partner with them to prevent or report illegal dumping, which would ultimately keep fees low.

“We’re one of the cheapest landfills in the whole state,” said Austin. He added that no one wants to see their rates go up or have more taxes levied on them but that is what will happen if the problem goes unaddressed and the dumping continues. “We want to partner with the public and get people to do the right thing.”

He added that the public can call the landfill to see what they can dump at sanitary landfills or what needs to go over the scales. “We’re trying to meet the public in the middle,” said Austin. “We’re not trying to be the garbage Gestapo.”

The landfill defines household garbage as “waste which is generated in the day-to-day operations of a household. Solid waste comprising of garbage and rubbish (such as bottles, cans, clothing, compost, disposables, food packaging, food scraps, newspapers, magazines, yard trimmings, etc.) that originates from private houses and apartments.”

Current fees are charged by the ton but loads under 400 lbs cost five dollars a load. All other normal fees are as follows:

Asbestos…$140

Non-friable Asbestos…$140

Concrete…$125

Construction/clean-up materials…$30

Contaminated soil with gas…$27.50

Contaminated soil with diesel…$35

Contaminated soil with oil…$40

Human sewage…$10

Meth clean up…$34.50

Out of county roll off…$37.50

Road asphalt…$37.50

Tires for in county residents…$175

Tires for out of county residents…$200

For concerns, comments or information call the refuse district at 228-4730.