Thursday, February 26, 2004

County fines NWS $70,000 for dumping unpermitted waste

NWS claims permit process confusing

By Jamie Turner 
Staff Writer

The Page County Board of Supervisors hit Battle Creek Landfill operator National Waste Services (NWS) of Virginia with a $70,000 fine last week, claiming NWS wrongfully dumped 28 truck loads of garbage by breaking newly implemented hauling procedures.

County supervisors called a special meeting with NWS officials Feb. 20 after learning that NWS allowed trucks to unload waste at the landfill without the required 2004 hauling permits. The non-permited trucks entered the landfill Feb. 17, the first day that new hauling regulations went into effect.

In what county officials viewed as a misguided effort to comply the new measures, NWS went to the effort of digging up the trash brought in on Feb. 17. NWS placed the trash on company trucks with new decals, hauled it to the bottom of the landfill, then turned around, ran the trucks back over the scales and re-dumped the waste.

The supervisors did not see this as an appropriate solution and decided to impose a fine.

NEW REGULATIONS

New hauling requirements were to go into effect Feb. 16. The county gave haulers a one-day grace period to submit applications for green 2004 decals.

The new permit program was developed in an effort to track out-of-state trash hauled into the county. New guidelines require each hauling company to purchase decals for both the truck cab and the trailer.

Upset by the new regulations, NWS had requested an emergency injunction in Page County Circuit Court earlier this month. While the court did not allow the injunction, Judge James V. Lane said NWS would most likely have a strong case arguing that the new rules went against NWS’s contract with the county.

A hearing date in the matter has yet to be set. In the meantime, county officials decided not to collect decal fees from trash haulers until Judge Lane makes a final decision. Still, the county expected the haulers to apply for the decals by the middle of last week.

THE ISSUE

County inspectors began enforcing the new hauling regulations Feb. 17. On that day, Rick Anderson, Page County’s solid waste coordinator, reported that NWS was refusing to abide by the new hauling regulations, which permitted only trucks with green 2004 decals to dump at Battle Creek.

According to Anderson, inspectors documented 28 trucks dumping at the landfill without the proper permits. He backed his claim with a stack of photos and tickets from the scale house.

Page County landfill attorney James E. Cornwell Jr. notified NWS officials of what the county saw as a violation. He asked NWS to remove the trash that was dumped Feb. 17.

In the meantime, NWS attorney Timothy Hayes of Hunton and Williams law firm in Richmond responded in a Feb. 18 letter that stated that NWS planned to remove the 28 truck loads of trash.

According to Anderson and several county inspectors, NWS reloaded the trash on NWS trucks with valid permits, then hauled the waste off the landfill and down to Battle Creek’s entrance road. NWS turned the trucks around near the leachate collection tank and weighed in each load on the scales under its own permit. The trash was then re-dumped into the landfill.

“We decided that to avoid further dispute we would remove the waste,” said Marc H. Shaener, vice-president for NWS. “We wanted to try and comply with the county on that requirement. All of that waste was weighed in.”

CONFUSION

During the Feb. 20 meeting Shaener argued that the county’s new permit program was too confusing. He said NWS scale operators weren’t sure which decals were valid.

Shaener said the company also has been receiving a lot of questions about the new county permit program from haulers.

“Between Jan. 19 and Feb. 14 the new applications for 2004 permits were distributed, and we had a lot of questions, and the haulers had a lot of questions,” Shaener said. “And we never could get an accurate answer.”

Shaener said the company’s scale operators were unsure which color decals were permitted.

Shaener said NWS is willing to work with the county to fix this problem, but he believes the two groups need to sit down together to develop an instruction manual in order to enforce the new permit program properly.

“I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the county to sit down and have a meeting with us to figure out what the correct answers are,” Shaener said. “In the meantime, we will follow the county’s instructions to the tee.”

COUNTY NOT SATISFIED

Though NWS agreed to adhere to the county’s new hauling regulations, Cornwell said the company intentionally broke the new rules on Feb. 17.

“They took waste on the 17th from non-permitted haulers and they admitted it,” Cornwell told county supervisors. “The company has the obligation not to take waste from non-permitted haulers. That’s the end of the story.

“The company’s job is to do what they are now doing after they have been called for it,” Cornwell continued. “The company intentionally, willingly and knowingly took that waste from non-permitted haulers. The company’s position is always the same: It’s the county’s fault.”

Shaener denied placing blame on the county. He said NWS was merely expressing concerns.

“We are not looking to place blame on anyone for the permit process,” Shaener said. “It is not an issue of cooperation, but an issue of confusion. We are just expressing our concerns and issues of what is happening. With all due respect, Mr. Cornwell is not on the site. The process is not that simple.”

FINAL DECISION

After listening to both Shaener and NWS’s general manager at Battle Creek Ray Tesh, Page supervisors had little to say about the matter.

“I don’t see why it is so hard to comply with the [contract],” said Mason C. Lockridge Jr. (R-Dist. 2).

Board Chair Gerald M. Cubbage (R-Dist. 4) added, “It’s in black and white.”

Once the hearing was closed, Page supervisors unanimously approved a recommendation from new County Administrator E.E. “Buddy” Burge II to fine NWS for accepting non-permitted waste.

NWS officials did not say if they planned to pay the fine.

We can be reached at pagenews@shentel.net.