Skagit County currently not accepting trash at Mount Vernon transfer station
No trash accepted at Mount Vernon transfer station
On Monday, a number of people were turned away in Skagit County: both contractors and families looking to unload trash showed up and were met with signage warning them that they couldn?t take trash.
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - On Monday, a number of people were turned away at the Mount Vernon transfer station in Skagit County. Both contractors and families looking to unload trash showed up and were met with signage warning them that they couldn’t bring their trash in.
It’s a growing problem that’s also struck Island and Snohomish Counties this year. In Snohomish County, the issue became such a concern that crews had to be on-hand 24/7 in case the trash caught fire. If trash sits long enough and begins to decompose, it can heat up leading to safety issues.
The problems at Mount Vernon’s transfer station have not risen to that level, according to the county’s public works director Grace Kane. Typically, trash needs to sit for one to two weeks before it becomes a fire hazard – a timetable they haven’t hit yet.
Kane told FOX 13 that their issues stem from a less reliable schedule at BNSF Railway, which moves large trash bins out of the county.
The transfer station in Mount Vernon ran out of bins, leading them to turn away anyone bringing in their own trash. The bins are large containers, that are roughly the size of a rail car, and are stacked two-high when they’re moved.
FOX 13 reached out to BNSF to ask what the situation is with delivering bins to trash transfer stations in the Pacific Northwest, noting issues in multiple counties this year. A spokesperson seemed to misunderstand the question, and noted that they don’t provide bins writing: "we simply transport them once they are ready to be shipped."
Follow-up questions noting concerns raised by Skagit County have not yet brought a response as this publication.
According to Kane, there is hope that a new batch of bins will arrive before they open on Tuesday.
She believes that the delays caused by BNSF are part of the ongoing work shortage, and supply chain demands that we’ve seen across multiple industries.
Those delays can have impacts for solid waste authorities.
Earlier this year Snohomish County faced similar delays, but on a larger scale. They ended up signing an emergency contract for $2 million to clean up a backlog of 3,500 tons of trash.