The Pierre City Commission has approved the purchase of a new scale for the town’s solid waste baling facility located on East Park Street.
Solid Waste Operation superintendent Val Keller says anything they accept is required to be weighed. She says they’ve gotten a full life cycle out of the current scale, which was put into operation in the mid-80s.
Keller says the scale weighs all the material that is accepted at the solid waste facility, some 23,000 tons of it each year. That includes all the trash the City collects, as well as that brought in by commercial haulers, individuals, and businesses that drop off garbage or rubble materials. She says anything they accept is required to be weighed.
It will take about eight months for the new $98,500 scale to arrive, and then another week or so for it to get installed. Keller says they can lock in the price of the scale right now, but because arrival and installation is still so far out, we can’t get good quotes for the delivery, crane services, and the other small items needed to put the new scale in operation.
The scale is necessary for several reasons. The solid waste industry is highly regulated; operators are required to closely track the materials and amount of materials going into landfills. Additionally, the scale allows Pierre to plan for future disposal needs and to recover the cost of operations by collecting fees per pound.
Pierre’s solid waste operation handles recycling and disposal needs for Pierre, Fort Pierre and seven area counties.
Courtesy image.
Comments