Nation wants orange bag volunteers

Carbon County Road and Bridge Supervisor, Bill Nation introduced a "good Samaritan orange bag proposal" to the Upper Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District (Landfill Board) meeting Feb. 4.

Nation addressed the board on his idea for a pilot program to reward citizens who clean up the county highways. "As you know in the Rawlins area, Baggs, Dixon, Savory and over in Hanna there are some good citizens that clean up around the highways and the county roads. It's no different around Saratoga. We do have some people who live around the county roads and they pick it up," Nation said.

"What I'm asking for consideration is that, would it be alright if, I got these orange bags like we all see in a highway cleanup situation." Nation said.

"The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) shop here in Saratoga, the one in Baggs and also the one over in Rawlins donated these," Nation said, referring to the orange bag he brought to the meeting.

"What my suggestion would be is if the fees could be waived if a good citizen was to be able to clean up the trash on the county roads and come to the landfill with some orange bags to be dumped - could that then have a fee reduction or a waive. That is my proposition and request," Nation said. Board chairman Randy Raymer said, "I think that's a worthy consideration, my concern would be that we don't want any hazardous waste concealed in there like batteries or electronics."

After checking with Landfill Board members, Raymer asked Encampment Landfill Operator Ron Munson if he saw any problem with the program. "I don't see a problem with it, obviously we still have to write down and charge for tires, and we can't accept batteries," Munson said.

"I don't have a problem with doing that on a pilot basis to kind of see what we get and see what kind of response you get from it in joining the rest of the county in some kind of effort," Raymer said of the plan.

Nation also addressed the need to spread to the word on where citizens can dispose their oil. "In Encampment, in Baggs, in Elk Mountain, those county shops where we have oil burning heaters and so we have made it available throughout the years for ranchers and so forth that don't have the opportunity in the evenings to get to the dumps. Sometimes these dumps start to close. We have a barrel outside most of those shops where we can dump it in. Now we have to check that to make sure it's right before we use it in our diesel and oil burners but that's another opportunity to recycle that to the good, and I would avail that opportunity to anybody up around Encampment and spread the word on that," Nation said.

"What do you accept free of charge as far as things that I'm finding out in the draws?" Nation asked.

"Yes, we charge for appliances, any appliance we charge for. Refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers, hot water heaters, and things like that," Raymer said. "When we talk about the 'metal laying on the ground' that's the metal recycling. We have in our community ... three different independent metal recyclers that almost everybody uses now. It always amazes me that people are still bringing that to the landfill when it's as easy as it is to have somebody come get it and they don't charge anything for it.

If it comes in a dump truck it's going to be considered construction and generation waste and you're going to pay that fee," Raymer said.

Anyone wanting more information on the "orange bag" initiative can contact Bill Nation on his cell phone at 307-321-2621.