Starkville city leaders have launched an inter-departmental investigation to determine why bags of materials residents left out for the city”s free curbside recycling program are being dumped in a landfill in Clay County.
The city”s Sanitation Department is supposed to collect residents” recyclables on Wednesdays, then weigh the materials at Southwire Company before dropping them off at Starkville Recycling for sorting, processing and sale. Starkville Recycling and the city share the proceeds.
The problem, Starkville Recycling owner Stan Shurden said Thursday, is Sanitation Department trucks are not bringing his company all of the items picked up during the curbside recycling program.
Southwire and Starkville Recycling are adjacent to each other, on Airport Road and C.C. Clark Road, respectively, so Starkville Recycling employees can see when Sanitation Department trucks bring curbside recycling loads to Southwire to be weighed, Shurden said. Until recently, Sanitation Department trucks took recyclables directly to Starkville Recycling to be weighed, but the company”s scales are “broke down,” Shurden said, which forced the Sanitation Department to weigh items at Southwire.
At times, three Sanitation Department trucks will pull into Southwire to be weighed, but only one of the trucks will bring materials to Starkville Recycling, Shurden said.
“Two of them are going right back to the Sanitation Department,” he said.
Shurden said he followed one of the Sanitation Department trucks Thursday morning and watched as workers tossed bags of garbage on top of the bright green curbside recycling bags collected the previous day. Shurden then followed the truck as it took the load to the Golden Triangle Solid Waste Management Authority in Clay County and dumped it in the landfill, he said. He took photos as proof and presented them to the city”s Recycling Committee Thursday night.
“Everybody is pretty overwhelmed,” Shurden said.
Shurden said the amount of materials brought to Starkville Recycling by the Sanitation Department has declined steadily since April. About a month ago, Shurden said he received word Sanitation Department drivers had been instructed not to bring him all of the materials picked up during the curbside recycling program.
“My drivers talk with their drivers,” Shurden said. “They were told ”Just take him some (of the materials). Don”t worry about the rest.” A lot of it is being left on the roads. It”s not getting picked up. Or they”re just dumping it.”
“But it”s not the drivers,” Shurden added. “They”re just doing what they”re told. It”s coming from above.”
He would not elaborate further.
Contacted Thursday evening, Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman said the city is launching a “full-fledged” inter-departmental investigation into the situation.
“Everybody in the chain needs to be talked to,” Wiseman said. “We are going to fully investigate how these bags ended up going to Golden Triangle because that is not supposed to happen.”
Sanitation Department Director Sharon Boyd is on leave due to the death of her husband and was unavailable for comment.
Shurden and the city recently had a contract dispute over the costs associated with the curbside recycling program. Shurden wanted to amend his contract with the city to help cover unforeseen expenses — he lost more than $15,000 since the program began in October 2009 — but the city was unwilling to agree to the changes.
Shurden said he didn”t anticipate the additional labor and operating costs which would be associated with sorting and processing the materials for the city.
Boyd then sent Shurden a notice in September saying he was in breach of contract because his reports on materials collected each month were unsatisfactory. A portion of the contract required Shurden to give monthly reports to the Sanitation Department.
Shortly after Shurden received the breach-of-contract notice, he gave the city a 60-day termination notice for his company to end its role in the curbside pickup program.
“They said my weight reports were unsatisfactory,” Shurden said. “Well, how can weight reports be satisfactory if they”re weighing three trucks and only bringing one to the (Starkville Recycling) facility?”
The city”s Board of Aldermen have since agreed to request proposals from companies interested in taking over the curbside recycling program. Shurden said he would wait to see if the city includes any new specifications before deciding whether or not to submit a proposal for Starkville Recycling to continue the curbside pickup program.
Shurden said he was exasperated by the contract dispute and the recent discovery that Sanitation Department trucks are dropping off recyclables meant for Starkville Recycling at the landfill in Clay County.
“I helped start this (curbside recycling) thing,” Shurden said. “I”m trying to do something good for the city, but it feels like somebody has a vendetta against me.”
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