By Asten Smith
MOUNT PLEASANT MILLS -- A recycling center in Mount Pleasant Mills has closed and two others in western Snyder County are in danger of the same because of a lack of funding.
The Mount Pleasant Mills recycling center at Shaner Energy, Route 104, took in about two tons of recyclables in the four-hour span it was open once a month. "It was one of our busiest recycling centers," Snyder County recycling coordinator Debbie Wolfe said Tuesday.
She said the center closed because the company the county contracts with to pick up the recyclables could no longer afford to provide the service at the same fee due to high gas prices. The contract between the provider, Cocolamus Creek Disposal, and the county ended this month.
That also will affect other recycling centers in the western end of the county, including McClure and Beavertown, which also may be forced to close without a pickup contractor, Wolfe said.
Recycling services in the eastern part of the county remain the same because they're provided through Lycoming County Resource Management Services. Lycoming does not charge a fee, Wolfe said. Its payoff is keeping the recyclables it collects.
The county's biggest dilemma in providing recycling services hinges on a lack of funding. In June, the Snyder County Waste Management Authority's general budget had dwindled to $4,000. In previous years, the authority depended on a tipping fee charged for pounds of collected waste as its main source of revenue. That fee was banned following a lawsuit the county lost.
In June, Wolfe said the authority looked to local government to provide financial support for the recycling effort. The county commissioners applied for a 902 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection for more than $500,000 to purchase a recycling truck and build a county recycling center near the county jail.
Commissioners Chairman Joe Kantz said Tuesday the application has a 50-50 chance of being approved. If approved, he said the commissioners are looking into fencing in the facility and employing prison inmates. The application could take up to 18 months to be approved. Until then, he said the best hope for residents who want recycling is to urge their state representatives to support House Bill 934, which would permit counties to collect an administration fee on county-generated waste.
"If there's anything people want to do, they have to get a hold of their representatives to pass this bill," Kantz said.
