Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
With the problem of illegal dumping persisting and contributing in large part to the escalating annual costs of garbage disposal, the Jefferson County Solid Waste Department finds itself in quandary, one that it is trying to address.
At a workshop on Thursday, Jan. 7, Solid Waste Department Director Beth Letchworth made a presentation to the Jefferson County Commission on the growing problem.
Assisting her with the presentation were Clerk of Court Kirk Reams and James Wolaver, a local resident with 30 years of experience in the waste management industry who is helping the department find solutions.
Letchworth noted that in Fiscal Year 2018-19, which ran Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, her department had disposed of 11,825 tons of garbage at an annual cost of $520,670.
She made a point of emphasizing that at the time, the average monthly garbage generated by the county’s 5,369 residences had been 368 pounds per household, compared with the national monthly household average of 173 pounds and Leon County’s of 123.
In the just completed Fiscal Year 2019-20, Letchworth continued, her department had disposed of 13,818 tons at an annual cost of $550,566, an increase of 1,993 tons and nearly $30,000 over the previous year.
The number of residences, she noted, had also increased to 5,797 (proof that the county’s population is growing). And the garbage generated by theses residences, she said, had grown to 374 pounds per household, again in comparison with the national household average of 173 pounds and Leon County’s of 123 pounds.
In terms of costs, Letchworth said, the county in FY 2018-19 had paid $244,982, or 47 percent higher than the national average for garbage disposal.
And in FY 2019-20, the county had paid $254,489, or 46 percent more than the national average for garbage disposal.
In terms of actual costs to the county for the excess tonnage – including disposal and operating costs – Letchworth said it came out to $331,703 in FY2018-19 and $363,060 in FY2019-20.
What accounted for the county’s much higher cost than the national average for garbage disposal? Letchworth asked.
It came down to one word. That word, she said, was contamination.
Which, in the parlance of waste management, essentially translates into anything that is not household garbage.
She attributed the growing problem to illegal dumping by non-county residents from surrounding counties, illegal dumping by commercial enterprises both within and outside the county and the illegal dumping of pollutants, all of which increased the cost of disposal.
At the rate the problem was increasing at about 10 percent each year, Letchworth said she estimated that the extra costs in the current fiscal year would amount to $40,000 or more.
Excess costs that she said the county’s taxpayers were bearing. It was the reason, she said, that the annual landfill assessment was as high as it was and why it had been increased recently.
Letchworth cited several examples of the types of illegal dumping that was contributing to the excess tonnage and increasing the disposal costs. These included waste tires, water tanks, yard debris and construction and demolition materials.
She said that conservatively speaking, about $30,000 worth of illegal tires were being dumped at the collection sites every year, which to dispose cost the county $280 a ton per tractor tire and $150 a ton per regular tire.
The collection sites, she said, were supposed to be only for household garbage. Instead, people were dumping everything from yard debris and lumber to boats and fencing to asbestos and chemicals.
“This stuff is not supposed to be there,” Letchworth said. “It’s time to get a handle on it.”
She noted that most of the illegal dumping was taking place at the unmanned collection sites, most of which remain open 24 hours, seven days a week.
Among the recommendation that Letchworth made to begin addressing the problem: manning all the sites and establishing hours of operation, installing cameras to record illegal activity, and enforcing penalties against violators.
“As your waste stream changes, you need to change your policies,” Wolaver told the commissioners. “If you take steps in the right direction, the word will get out that the holiday is over.”
The commissioners instructed Letchworth and her group to work up figures on how much it would cost to staff the sites and others of her recommendations. The board also left the door opened to the possibility of contracting with a third-party for curbside pickup on a voluntary basis.