Countywide : Commission Supports Trash Importation

The Orange County Integrated Waste Management Commission is backing a trash importation plan that could raise up to $22 million a year to help the county through its economic problems.

Opponents complain bitterly that the plan forces county businesses to subsidize outside trash haulers.

But officials said the plan provides the only source of new revenue for the bankrupt county and is a key component of the financial recovery plan. The commission voted 6 to 4 to recommend that the Orange County Board of Supervisors begin importing trash as early as January, 1996.

The plan has been criticized because the county recently hiked gate fees at local landfills by more than 50% for in-county trash haulers, but at the same time it is offering rates half as much to outsiders from as far away as Arizona.

Delores Otting, owner of 5-Star Rubbish, told the commission that she and her husband are struggling to pay the $35 per ton gate fee. “Why should I have to subsidize another trash hauler?” she asked.

But Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, who has been helping the county solve its bankruptcy woes, said that trash importation is sorely needed to help get the county back on its feet. The plan counts on the county receiving $15 million a year from outside trash haulers.

County officials said they must offer the bargain rates to lure outside haulers, who must also pay the costs of transporting tons of garbage over long distances.