By Sara Price
Currently, Emery County Landfill is the only landfill in the state of Utah that does not have a fee schedule. Unfortunately, that will come to an end according to Emery County Commissioner J.R. Nelson. Without a fee schedule, the landfill has been forced to use county coffers to stay afloat, a trend that cannot continue.
Some of the current revenue sources for the landfill are scrap metal recycling and contractor dumping, but that is not enough to cover the costs of running the landfill. Also, out of area visitors have been taking advantage of the no-fee dumping, bringing their garbage into the county in order to save the cost of dumping in their local landfill. In order to break even, commissioners have asked the landfill supervisor to create a fee schedule that will get them running in the black again.
The landfill uses many pieces of heavy equipment such as a compactor that works to squash the garbage in the landfill. However, the current piece of equipment is too small and over used, both of which present problems. The compactor becomes stuck in the garbage, forcing the landfill workers to pull it out frequently with a backhoe. In addition, the maintenance issues of the compactor have proven too much for the landfill, leading them to try and buy a new one. The compactor they need to properly run the landfill will run about $600,000, money the landfill cannot obtain without a fee schedule in place.
Commissioners look forward to seeing the fee schedule in place so the landfill can become self-sustaining rather than depending on constant county funds to keep it running.