Worcester County commissioners approve new landfill fees starting … – Ocean City Today

Starting Jan. 1, Worcester County landfills will increase the tipping fee for dumped refuse from $70 per ton to $80, and add a $20 removal charge for each paint or petroleum-product can.

At the commissioners meeting on Nov. 7, members voted 6-1 to approve a request from the public works department to amend the new fees into the Worcester County Solid Waste Enterprise Funds Fiscal Year 2024 operating budget. Commissioner Joe Mitrecic voted against the change because of the can-dumping fee.

Director of Public Works Dallas Baker said at the meeting that local hauling companies asked for the change in the refuse tipping fee because it would streamline the process.

Right now, when people come up (and) dump their waste, we charge different rates for refuse, for construction demolition, for some various other things, Baker said. The $80 will make it consistent with pretty much 90 percent of the material thats dumped.

As the system is now, after a truck dumps a load that is half refuse and half construction demolition, landfill workers must verify the cost based on the different rates associated with different dumped materials, Baker said. Haulers then have to return to the landfill to pay.

The haulers are interested in trying to get in and out of the landfill as quick as possible, Baker said.

Baker said that the $20 fee for paint and petroleum-product cans comes in response to an increased number of the cans getting dumped at county landfills, while the cans are not allowed to be disposed there.

The fee is an attempt to discourage illegal dumping and also helps pay for the extra labor that landfill workers contribute when theyre forced to remove the cans, Baker said.

Baker said public works would have a proper place to unload the cans without charging the $20 fee.

Mitrecic said that while he agrees with the tipping fee increase, he thinks that the fee would instead motivate contractors to dump cans in municipal trash receptacles instead.

No disrespect to those guys up there on the hill because they do a great job, but I dont really see them jumping out and picking up paint cans as opposed to picking up tires, Mitrecic said.

Tires are not allowed to be dumped in landfills and must be removed as well.

Mitrecic said he would not support the motion because he thinks the paint can problem could be solved another way.

Baker said hauling companies have told him that they try to tell contractors not to put illegal material in dumpsters, but some contractors hide the items under landfill-allowed refuse anyway.

Weve been having commercial haulers bringing in 20 and 40 yard bins half filled with paint cans and dumping them large scale, Baker said.

The Maryland Department of the Environment could fine the landfill if it found that these kinds of cans were being dumped there, he said.

Baker said that if haulers tell landfill personnel they have paint cans, the workers will direct them to another area to drop off the cans, and in that case the haulers would not be charged a fee.

I understand what youre up against but I also understand that if you ever put a 40-yard dumpster out in front of a job site, you could end up with grills, lawn chairs, paint cans and whatever else anybody in the neighborhood happens to have that they want to get rid of, Mitrecic said.

Mitrecic said that educating haulers and contractors would be a better option.

Baker said that public works could send educational letters to haulers, as well as post information on the county website and social media. However, Baker said that recently public works warned a company to stop dumping illegal items, and the company dumped more the next day.

Id much rather take that approach. The message just isnt getting through, Baker said.

Baker said that since the changes goes into effect Jan. 1, contractors and haulers have a two-month buffer to learn about the incoming fee changes, and dumpsters that are currently on construction sites likely wouldnt be affected.

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Worcester County commissioners approve new landfill fees starting ... - Ocean City Today