News & Events

Landfill asks for no price increase
By SUMMER WALLACE-MINGER, staff writer
(originally appeared in the Steubenville Herald Star)

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WINTERSVILLE — The Belmont-Jefferson Solid Waste Authority Board of Directors on Monday heard a presentation from Liberty Waste Services representatives on the proposed increase in tipping fees in the district.

Liberty Waste Services operates the Apex Sanitary Landfill in Amsterdam.

The board voted in March to increase the tipping fees from $1 for in-district garbage, $2 for in-state but out-of-district garbage and $1 for out-of-state garbage to $2, $4 and $2, respectively. Those amounts are the highest allowed by state law.

At the April meeting, the board voted to table the measure. The increase, under state law, would require the board to hold public meetings for residents’ opinions and to obtain an agreement from the majority of the municipalities and townships in the district, a lengthy process which could take several months, according to Patrick Lanaghan, executive director of the solid waste authority.

A proposed contract between the authority and the landfill was presented to the board for consideration at Monday’s meeting.

Under the terms of the proposed contract, tipping fees would be $1 per ton for in-district waste, $2 per ton for out-of-district but in-state waste and $1 per ton for out-of-state waste when the landfill is accepting less then 3,000 tons of waste per day. If the landfill is accepting between 3,000 and 4,000 tons per day, the tipping fees would be as follows: $1.25 for in-district, $2 for out-of-district but in-state and $1.25 for out-of-state. If the landfill is accepting more than 4,000 per day, the tipping fees would be $1.50 for in-district, $2 for out-of-district but in-state and $1.50 for out-of-state.

The contract also calls for tipping fees of $1.25 for in-district, $2 for out-of-district but in-state and $1.25 for out-of-state after the adoption of the authority’s Solid Waste Management plan, expected to take effect in July 2007.

Jefferson County Commissioner Adam Scurti, board member, said he didn’t approve of lowering the tipping fees after the introduction of the management plan.

“I will fight tooth and nail against it. I just want you to know that,” he said.

Stephen Callahan, Liberty Waste Services director of operations, gave a presentation to the board on the landfill’s economic impact on the area.

He said Liberty Waste Services had expended $50 million on the landfill itself and $30 million on improvements on rail service to haul waste from New Jersey to Ohio.

Callahan reminded the authority the tipping fees provided by the landfill had allowed the authority to rescind an assessment on residents.

He informed the board Liberty Waste Services is reclaiming several hundred acres of abandoned surface mines; constructing wetlands in the Goose Creek area; widening the food plain in the area; and has placed 100 acres in the Goose Creek and Cross Creek areas into conservation easements.

Representatives told the board raising the fees as proposed would cause Apex’s tipping fees to be greater than those of other Ohio landfills in most cases. They argued this would put Apex at a competitive disadvantage and hinder its growth.

It was noted fuel costs to Apex have increased by approximately one-third since the project began.

The board took the matter under advisement, and the executive committee will schedule a meeting with Liberty Waste Services representatives to further discuss the contract.

In other business:

• Samantha Carroll, Belmont County Recycling and Litter Prevention program director, informed the board the program had received an inordinate amount of tires during its spring cleanups and may go over budget.

• Lanaghan informed the board the authority would have a balance of $79,000 in June, and would have $50,000 in costs associated with the community cleanups. He added in July he expects the authority to have $50,000 in revenue and $55,000 in expenditures.

• David Hays, treasurer, informed the board he had spoken to National City Bank officials about a $100,000 line of credit for the authority, in the case it was needed.

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