Fuel Prices Driving Up Trash Bill?

05/16/2008 07:07:08


DAYTON, Ohio -- Higher fuel prices mean Miami Valley residents will be paying more every month to help truck trash on a 70-mile journey to Brown County beginning Aug. 1.

Why? A five-year contract worth at least $12 million a year with Rumpke Waste Inc. to put about 1,500 tons of trash from Montgomery and Miami counties on the highway in 50 tractor-trailers five to six days a week. Landfill space in Montgomery County is nearly exhausted, and the county mothballed two trash incinerators in 1994 because the county couldn't meet deadlines to upgrade them to meet tougher emissions standards, county Public Works Director David Ricks said. The contract includes fuel charges, which aren't fixed. That means residents should expect a rough ride driven by fluctuating fuel prices. The contract cost was based on diesel fuel priced at $2.50 a gallon. Today, diesel is above $4 a gallon. That means the contract will adjust up or down based on a monthly national average for fuel, Ricks said, and nobody can say what the cost will be.

The latest, and most dire, predictions are from Goldman Sachs, which said oil prices could reach $150 to $200 a barrel within two years. By Ricks' calculation, every time the per gallon costs goes up a penny, the cost per ton hauled goes up a penny. Montgomery County says 325,000 tons of trash will go to Rumpke annually. If the cost of diesel hovers at $4.10 a gallon, Rumpke would charge $520,000 more a year to haul it, according to the contract. The county is absorbing the extra cost, but will re-evaluate that this year, Ricks said. Fuel prices will also hit curbside haulers. How and when all this increased cost is passed to consumers is unclear, he said. Some haulers bill directly. Some municipalities process the bills.

courtesy of www.daytondailynews.com

© Copyright WHIO radio news

WebReady^TM Powered by WireReady® NSI