TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pasco News

County To Pay $2 Million To Export Excess Garbage

ADVERTISEMENT

By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: September 25, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL - NEW PORT RICHEY, FL - A trash hauler will earn about $2 million a year from Pasco County to truck excess garbage to another county instead of burying the waste in landfills here.

Today, county commissioners hired Waste Services Inc. to export leftover garbage whenever there is more trash than the county incinerator plant can burn. Right now, the excess garbage is buried in landfills.

The 20-year contract with Waste Services can be reviewed and canceled after the first four years, County Administrator John Gallagher told commissioners today.

It will take at least four years for the county to make plans and get permits to add a fourth boiler at the incinerator plant, Gallagher reported.

The incinerator, the Resource Recovery Plant on Hays Road, burns garbage to produce electricity which the county sells for a profit.

Commissioners were split in opinions about paying to export trash.

The $2 million could be applied instead toward a mandatory recycling program similar to a Polk County facility, Commissioner Jack Mariano said.

Commissioner Michael Cox and others wanted to go ahead now with expansion of the incinerator plant. No costs were mentioned today, but $150 million has been a ball-park figure mentioned in recent months.

Commissioners reluctantly went along with the Waste Services contract.

The county will pay the hauler $39.82 a ton to truck the excess garbage to another county. The county guarantees Waste Services at least 30,000 tons of garbage a year. Officials expect up to twice that amount probably will be exported each year.

Read moreSaturday in the next issue of The Suncoast News.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT