Tipping fee could rise to cover operations

CANTON — The per-ton fee to dispose of trash at St. Lawrence County's transfer stations could top $100 next year.

The Solid Waste Department's operations manager blames the increase on a loss of revenue this year from a lower volume of trash, and expects that will not change in 2010.

"That's a significant deterrent to our revenue," said Scott A. Thornhill. "For each ton of trash at $97 a ton, 60 percent pays for our employees and covers our expenses. We've lost potentially 3,000 tons between 2008 and 2009, so that's $180,000 to $200,000 in revenue."

Mr. Thornhill has proposed increasing the tipping fee to $103 a ton next year to make up for a projected $150,000 shortfall.

"That's necessary just to maintain the status quo," he said.

Mr. Thornhill said he also is worried about the county's inability to meet state Department of Environmental Conservation requirements for hauling leachate from closed landfills in Ogdensburg, Massena and Canton. DEC ordered the landfills closed in 1987 and established requirements for how they should be controlled and maintained. They have been closed since 1992.

The state expects the county to remove 8.32 million gallons of leachate, the liquid that drains from the landfills, from all three locations every year, but Mr. Thornhill said the county has only managed to haul away 3.07 million gallons in a year. To meet state requirements will take an additional $250,000 investment in manpower and equipment, he said.

Mr. Thornhill has suggested that lawmakers consider increasing the tax levy rather than further increasing the tipping fee. It's one of several recommendations he said he will ask legislators to consider today to stabilize tipping fees, improve efficiency at the transfer stations and increase recycling rates.

"If we did everything on that list, we'd be looking at something like a $25-a-ton increase. That's a lot of money in tight times," said Legislator Alexander A. MacKinnon, R-Fowler. "We've been managing to get by, although we haven't been in compliance for a long time. Why do we all of a sudden need to be back in compliance? I don't see that we need to be doing anything differently."

Mr. MacKinnon said adding the cost to come into compliance to the tax levy is a viable option, since lawmakers' cuts to the proposed 2010 budget so far total $1.2 million.

"But we can also pass the budget exactly as it is and continue on as we have. Later on we can start to talk about the other details," he said.