Pa. Landfill Pays Penalty

“The Waste Transportation Safety Act, commonly called Act 90, is designed to make the transportation of municipal waste safer throughout Pennsylvania,” DEP Southwest Regional Director Ken Bowman says. “We take these violations seriously and hope Mostoller Landfill will step up to its responsibility to monitor incoming trash trucks more closely.”

During September trash truck inspections, DEP and PSP inspectors found a Wise Disposal Service packer truck with no Act 90 authorization sticker. All trucks hauling waste in Pennsylvania must have the sticker. Mostoller Landfill accepted the vehicle at least 18 times without the sticker. A check of the vehicle log and landfill records revealed that the company had placed the vehicle out of service in November 2003.

Earlier this year, Mostoller Landfill also paid an $18,000 fine for taking an unauthorized waste vehicle on nine separate dates without checking for the Act 90 authorization sticker. At that time, DEP inspectors documented an operator from Flushing, N.Y., who had taken unauthorized loads of trash from a transfer station in New York to Mostoller Landfill.

Act 90 requires all vehicles weighing more than 17,000 pounds to obtain authorization from DEP. After review of the application, safety and environmental compliance history and receipt of fee, the department issues stickers that are affixed to the vehicles. Act 90 mandates a $2,000 penalty for each time a landfill accepts a load from an unauthorized hauler.

For more information on the inspections, visit DEP’s Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us, Keyword: “DEP Targeting Trash.”