A trash-talking Washington County Board tabled a controversial garbage contract last week after a brisk debate over county subsidies.
Commissioners came to the brink of approving a three-year contract with Resource Recovery Technologies (RRT), which has a solid waste processing plant in Newport, before backing away on grounds that they didn't know enough about potential consequences.
At issue was the $2.3 million "processing payment" that Washington County would pay each year under a new contract, which would begin in 2013. The payment, which some commissioners referred to as a subsidy, represents the cost of garbage processing at the Newport plant vs. the cheaper cost of disposal at out-of-county landfills. The plant supports about 100 jobs.
"When they're asking for a subsidy like this, I think we have every right to see their books," said Commissioner Autumn Lehrke. "I just have a hard time taking hard-earned tax dollars and subsidizing their profit."
Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek said government shouldn't provide subsidies to private businesses. He said he opposed the proposed contract for that reason but also wondered why the county couldn't inspect RRT's finances.
"We're just supposed to trust them because they're nice people?" he asked.
The county has no right to look at RRT's books, said George Kuprian, who advises the board on legal matters and oversees the civil division of the county attorney's office. "Just so the public knows, RRT is a private corporation. We can't have their books," he said.
Washington County has contracted with RRT for years to sort and haul garbage for use as electricity-generating fuel in two Xcel Energy plants. The processed garbage, RRT said, eliminates 90 percent of the volume that otherwise would be dumped into landfills. RRT also sorts metals from garbage for recycling and removes hazardous materials, such as propane tanks and lead products.
