County says it will enforce flow-control law as hauler complains competitors are not recycling

A Sullivan County hauler told the Public Works Committee he has documented competitors bringing waste without separating mandated single-stream recyclables, and urged the county to enforce its flow-control and recycling rules. County staff said they will move to enforce flow-control requirements and described near-term improvements at a transfer station.

“I sent an email on March 25…We didn't hear anything back so that's why we're here tonight,” the hauler, identified in the meeting transcript as Mr. Scott, said. He provided staff-compiled tipping information showing competitive haulers making multiple visits and dumping substantial tonnages, and asserted that some competitors are not recycling while charging lower fees. “We're the ones paying the bills…We're subsidizing these transfer stations,” he said, citing daily tipping reports and saying his company had tipped over 3,000 tons while certain competitors had far lower recycling tip numbers.

County solid-waste staff described enforcement plans and operational improvements. Staff said the county will verify that vendors received the county letter about flow-control enforcement and will fine and issue summonses to haulers who take county-collected waste out of county limits. “We are gonna be enforcing the flow control rules starting real soon…if you are taking garbage out of this county, we're gonna fine you and you're gonna get summonses,” a county legislator announced in the meeting while staff indicated follow-up would be required.

Staff also reported ongoing improvements at Western Transfer Station: the office now has electricity and a new office space; county staff said they expect to enable credit-card payments at that site within the month. Cardboard pricing was reported at about $75 per ton and single-stream recycling prices at about $51 per ton; staff noted trucking adds roughly $40 per ton in cost for the county when it hauls single-stream recyclables out for processing.

County staff described participation in the Mid-Hudson Materials Management Group to pursue alternatives to landfilling and reported they applied to the DEC Clean Sweep New York program to dispose of hazardous municipal waste at no cost to the county. Staff also described issues with one village (referred to as Atiers in the record) that lacks an insurance policy and therefore cannot receive an operating permit or participate in town cleanup tonnage allocations until insurance is provided.

Two public commenters with background in waste management urged the committee to treat waste as a resource and avoid incineration. “Waste is actually a resource…it's an opportunity,” said Eric Feinblatt, who identified himself as having long worked in waste management. Another commenter, Caroline Bailey, cautioned against waste incineration and noted emissions and energy inefficiency concerns.

The committee discussion recorded a commitment to follow up on enforcement and to provide further information to haulers and transfer-station stakeholders. Quotes used in this article are drawn from the public comment and staff reports in the meeting transcript.