Scavenging a problem at green-box sites

Scavenging at the county's garbage drop-off sites continues to be a problem, the county's public works director told commissioners last week.

Dave Prunty said the county has little ability to stop people from going through the containers looking for materials they can reuse, because most of the sites are not staffed by county employees.

Because the county has installed a cardboard baler at the Columbia Falls site, that facility now is staffed, Prunty said. That employee will begin monitoring the scavengers and tell them to leave. Prunty is seeking assistance from the county attorney's office on other measures the county can take to stop the scavenging.

People also steal metal and other recyclable materials from the sites, reducing the amount of materials the county is able to sell, which results in a loss of revenue.

County employees hear citizen complaints about the scavenging, he said, and some people have said they are afraid to haul their trash to the sites because they've been harassed by the scavengers.

"We've had reports that people pull up and the guys digging through garbage approach them wanting to get their trash," he said.

Fights have even broken out among people who want the same discarded items, he said.

"Our plan is to outlaw it," Prunty said of scavenging. "It's been a long time coming and I'm pleased we are taking the step."

Prunty also told commissioners the landfill accepted 2,029 tons of turkey necks and turkey parts from Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

The poultry parts were spilled from two rail cars when a train derailed March 9 near Essex.

After the derailment, BNSF officials contacted Prunty about hauling the frozen birds to the county's landfill. Because the landfill accepts dead animals, Prunty said there would be no problem taking the poultry.

The county was paid $63,000 from the railroad.

That boost to landfill revenue alleviated some worry on Prunty's part. Landfill revenues are lower than he projected for the fiscal year which ends June 30. But the $63,000 "caught us up to our budget numbers," he said.

At a recent landfill energy conference, Prunty learned how fortunate Flathead County is to have the methane energy system at its landfill.

"I knew we were small," he said of the facility which produces 1 megawatt of electricity, "but we're perhaps the smallest in the United States. "The other small producers in the country all generate about 3 megawatts."

Flathead Electric Co-op "took a leap of faith to do this," Prunty said. "It truly seems we're one in a million."

One megawatt is enough to supply electricity to 1,000 houses, he said.

Prunty reported the way that charges are assessed for disposing trailer houses at the landfill is being revised. Small trailers that fit on the county's large scale will be weighed and the owner charged the appropriate per ton fee. A flat fee will be charged for larger trailers that don't fit on the scale and can't be weighed.

The county attorney's office is reviewing that change, Prunty said, and once that is complete, the issue will be presented to the solid waste board members and the county commissioners for action.

Prunty also told commissioners the county recycling bins that had been in the parking lot of Tire Rama in Kalispell have been moved to the Army Navy Store lot in Evergreen. The Tire Rama site wasn't used much, he said, and there are no other recycling bins in Evergreen.

In other business this week, commissioners told Ed Berry they would forward his complaints about actions of Flathead Valley Community College board members to the county attorney for a legal opinion. Berry cited state law in presenting his information to commissioners, saying they have the authority to suspend community college board members if a complaint is deemed to have probable cause for merit.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.