Legal Dumping Saves
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
It costs Lyon County taxpayers thousands of dollars a year to clean up after people who illegally dump trash, limbs and even furniture in rural areas.
Chip Woods, Lyon County engineer, said clean-up of illegal dumping in the county cost the county $24,245.66 in 2006, up from 2005’s total of $11,791.16.
But people who illegally dump in the county probably could save some money on gas if they legally got rid of their trash and recyclable material at the Emporia Transfer Station and Recycling Center.
The transfer station is at 3100 W. South Ave., west of Prairie Street, and is closer to the city than most of the illegal dump sites in Lyon County. Woods said most of the dumping hot spots are five miles outside of Emporia, usually either near a river or under the turnpike. According to mapquest.com, it’s 2.54 miles to the transfer station from downtown Emporia. With gas prices running more than $2.60 a gallon, it would be cheaper to drive the load to the transfer station.
The Transfer Station is operated by the city of Emporia and is regulated by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Recycling is encouraged because waste received by the transfer station that cannot be diverted to proper areas must shipped to out-of-town landfills at a cost of more than $22 a ton.
Tim Delcamp, Transfer Station and Recycling Center foreman, said the recycling center puts together more than 200 bails of different materials a month. The bails are made of cardboard, paper or plastic. It takes one whole bin full of plastic — pop bottles, milk jugs or miscellaneous containers — to make a bail, Delcamp said.
Larry and Patricia Bucklinger visited the recycling center recently. They normal recycle newspapers, pop bottles, aluminum cans, milk cartons, apple juice cartons and plastic bottles.
“We are just doing our bit,” Larry Bucklinger said.
Patricia Bucklinger said she hopes the recycling does some good.
‘”Hopefully it helps in the long run,” she said. “It’s really easy and simple to do it.”
Mark McAnarney was also at the center, recycling cardboard, paper and glass.
“We try to recycle everything,” McAnarney said. “Just to help the environment and reduce the amount of solid waste we have. We have very little we put into solid waste (containers).”
Used motor oil also can be taken to the recycling center. The oil is used to heat the building. Last Saturday, with temperatures in the 30s and 40s, that heat was needed.
Delcamp said there are many reasons to recycle.
“My opinion is to save space at the landfills,” he said.
The Transfer Station receives 29,000 to 30,000 tons of trash a year. Each week, trucks haul 20 to 25 tons of trash from the station to landfills, Delcamp said.
Delcamp said that the station charges people $2 minimum to dump 100 pounds of trash. A full-sized couch will cost an average of $2.
“There are other avenues to go to instead of dumping in ditches,” Delcamp said.
Another thing commonly found on rural roads is bags of leaves and sticks, which can be dumped at the station without charge.
“There is no charge to dispose of grass and leaves,” Delcamp said. “We find a lot of that in the road ditch. If we’re closed, they just dump it in the ditch and leave. There’s different places you can go rather than throw them in the ditch.”
Delcamp said someone could come with a truckload of trash, dump it and pay only $3.
“We’re a one-stop shop here,” he said. “You also can come here with a truckload of stuff and go to all three places,” the transfer station, the recycling center and the yard-waste dump.
The yard waste that is taken to the transfer station is composted and the compost is given away to the public.
“We give it away so people can re-use it,” Delcamp said.
Recycling does help Emporia and surrounding areas. Last year, recycling saved the transfer station $55,000 in shipping costs.
pizza (anonymous) says...
"Bail" is something you do to empty the water from a sinking boat. "Bale" is something you do to a container of trash. Where did you folks go to school?? Geez...what a paper.
April 10, 2007 at 3:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
food4thought (anonymous) says...
I will clean up any illegal dumping site for what the city is saying it cost them to do it??????
April 10, 2007 at 4:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
EsqEB (anonymous) says...
11K in 2005 and 24 in 2006. When Tyson start bringing in all the Somalians??
April 10, 2007 at 7:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gazettelost (anonymous) says...
As I read this article (the second consecutive week where this topic has been on the front page), I thought this time they would mention any solutions to the problem...Emporia has Free Dump Days. Why is that not mentioned in the article??
April 11, 2007 at 10:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jones (anonymous) says...
The recycling center is free to Lyon County Residents.The materials they recycle are baled and sold to help defray the cost of the equiptment and labor to pick up what idiots put in the ditches because they are to cheap to pay a couple of bucks.You need to spend a dollar to make a dollar.I am not Somalian,this problem was going on long before Tyson brought in the Somalians this problem has been ongoing for several years.If it's too much of a problem to take your trash to the dump for a couple dollars then saveit in your back yards until Free Dump Days not in our ditches for the City to pick up and charge us in the long run by having to raise the cost to dump our trash containers.It's a joint effort Emporia have some respect for your city.
April 11, 2007 at 8:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )