By Randy Sanne
Daniel Simmons-Ritchie’s article in the World titled “County toys with new drug test policy” is just the latest effort by a couple of members of the structure advisory committee acting as tools for their business interests to try to shut down the Coos County Solid Waste Facility (CCSW) and privatize it to the benefit of Waste Connections, Inc.
Members Al Pettit and Jon Barton have been proven to routinely ignore the facts, which has forced people like me to correct their misleading and false statements with supported facts. Pettit’s public claims about the employees at CCSW I believe border on defamation of character and adversely affect not only the lives and reputations of the good people employed at the CCSW but their families and friends as well. Unfortunately, The World and Ritchie chose to support these unsubstantiated, untrue, and indefensible statements and printed them in the paper.
The facts: In June of 2009 then commissioner Kevin Stufflebean attempted to shut down the CCSW claiming our ash trench was critically full, this claim was almost immediately proven false. He next claimed the facility was old, in disrepair, and had nearly reached its life expectancy. Again almost immediately proven false by a feasibility study that stated: “ACS believes that the incineration plant can continue to operate the plant without major overhauls or upgrades. Furthermore, ACS believes that if the items identified for immediate and future attention are addressed, and that the current level of maintenance is continued , the system will last another 10 to 15 years.”
Another claim being made is that the cost of incineration is much higher than hauling directly to a landfill with numbers like $117.00 per ton being reported as the cost of incineration while the fact is that our tipping fee for refuse is $79.00 per ton and only a recent fee dedicated to the new Household Hazardous Waste program has increased that amount. A 2010 communication from Bill Richardson, site manager for Waste Connections, ”Waste Connections feels that we would be able to reload and transfer all MSW from a Coos County disposal site to an alternate site for the rate of $79.00 per ton. Slightly less then proposed by the URS report of $83.00…,” meaning that it would be no cheaper to haul refuse away than it currently is to incinerate. With these attempts to shut down the CCSW having failed we began seeing less and less garbage brought to the CCSW and at a recent Solid Waste Advisory Committee meeting Waste Connections was identified as the hauler responsible for the reduction.
In 2009 I recommended that Coos County adopt a “System Benefit Fee” to protect the citizens investment, however, simply requiring Waste Connections to abide by the contract they signed in 2003 will solve the problem. “Franchisee, Les’ County Sanitary Service, Inc., following such acquisition of ownership by Waste Connections, Inc., shall continue to deliver the prior three (3) years’ rolling average tons of acceptable solid waste, adjusted for growth, collected from unincorporated areas of Coos County to the Beaver Hill Solid Waste disposal facility for so long as the Beaver Hill facility is owned and operated by Coos County.”
Our commissioners have a responsibility to act and enforce the county’s contract with Waste Connections, failure to do so is a betrayal of the trust placed in them by the voters and taxpayers .
It is unfortunate the structure advisory committee has chosen to besmirch the character of the CCSW employees by accusing them of being drug abusers. Again I feel it is necessary to replace Mr. Pettit’s accusations with facts, facts that would have been VERY easy for the paper’s reporter to obtain if he had been interested in reporting the truth. Fact #1: ALL new employees at the CCSW must first pass a pre-employment drug screening. Fact #2: State and Federal regulations require ALL licensed CDL drivers to participate in random drug testing. Fact #3: The CCSW has 11 employees that operate equipment in the facility and 5 of them possess CDL licenses meaning that nearly 50%(should this be changed to “half”) of our staff can be tested, a far greater percentage than just about any other department in the county, making Mr. Pettit’s accusations highly unlikely, and I believe he should be forced to provide evidence to support his defamatory claims. As I hold a CDL and am a proud veteran of the US Air Force, I have and will always be willing to test. My wife and I have always promoted good values to our children who have all chosen careers that support and protect the citizens of this county and our nation, and I would hate to think that the untrue accusations of one irresponsible and unprofessional individual would negatively impact innocent lives.
Since The World article was published CCSW employees have stated to me that they have been contacted by friends and family members with questions and concerns regarding the article. Shortly after the Structure advisory Committee was formed I went on record recommending that Mr. Pettit be removed from the committee based on statements he had made at that time. The commissioners ignored that recommendation and should be held responsible for any liability Mr. Pettit causes the county.
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of MGx.
It might be a minor detail, but I’ve heard Mr. Sanne indicate that the employees at the Solid waste facility were the most drug tested employees at the county because of holding CDL drivers licenses. Unless it has changed in the last 5 years, the Road Department requires new employees and current employees to hold a CDL drivers license. Other than management which is few, the remainder a required to submit to random drug testing under Federal Law, which far exceeds 50% of the employees.
Properly utilizing our solid waste stream could be a potential money maker for the county. Here is an example of that –
http://onlinecpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Miramar-Landfill-benefits-factsheet.pdf
Unfortunately our Commissioners are not listening to this kind of wisdom. They are listening to people whose shining example of success can be found in today’s paper –
http://theworldlink.com/news/local/united-to-end-service-from-north-bend-to-portland/article_3c16b0ca-30c4-11e1-97ba-0019bb2963f4.html
In a mature, sustainable economy, an inherent part of it is the necessity of dealing with the waster stream. We should make every effort to keep our own local disposal site active and revenue neutral. I do believe Coos County has that capability with the right planning.
NO WAY !!
Accountability, you’re serious?
I didn’t think there was another Public Teat left?
Little piggies at the trough. And screwing we CAVE people at every damn avenue.
And getting all insultey-llike when we complain.
Hey arsholes, pay your taxes like we are.
How do we get rid of all these tax free zones anyway? We need income, not another dollar of Corporate Welfare, not another one.
Anyone know what has to be done to start getting us rid of these freeloader-zones?
Think Bandon Dunes would have re-located? ORC would have found another ocean front area to screw up? Braddock and his Pipe Dream ? Hell, the smart people running Tijuana, Mexico threw their sorry asses out. Coos Bay? We grabbed our ankles and let them have their way with us.
How was it for you?
“County toys with new drug test policy”? Okay, but let’s start with the Structure Committee and then do the County Commissioners. Maybe that will clear up some of the problems.
It is also worthy to note that Bill Richardson of Waste Connectons is also a board member of SCDC……. Hmmmmmm. Need I say more!
Another example of how poor management of the County and Port are why businesses do not come to Coos Bay. Throw these bums at the Courthouse out and start investigating the way the Port of Coos Bay does business and business will come.