Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 25, 1994                   TAG: 9402250360
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

MULCH GOING FOR FREE AT MID-COUNTY LANDFILL

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to waive for 90 days the usual $15 per ton charge for mulch, which will be produced by grinding up debris from the devastating Feb. 11 ice storm.

Anyone who wants a load of the mulch should come to the landfill, located off U.S. 460 between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, according to a statement from the county.

Landfill workers will be available to load the mulch into trucks. A small mulch pile will be available for people who want smaller quantities. For more details, call 382-5796.

The giveaway came once the Board of Supervisors realized, first, that grinding up the debris would be the most cost-effective option for disposing of the thousands of tons of downed tree limbs, and second, that offering the mulch for free would be the only way to prevent a huge backlog, because the county still has some left over from debris created by last summer's wind storm.

The decision followed Monday's board vote to use general tax revenues to reimburse tipping fees for storm-related debris for the next month. This was necessary because landfill operations must be self-sufficient, supported by the fees. The vote means that all county taxpayers will cover the cost of the storm cleanup, rather than individuals or the town governments in Christiansburg and Blacksburg.

County officials considered, then rejected, burning the hundreds of tons of debris that have come into the landfill from Blacksburg and Christiansburg. Grinding the tree limbs turned out to be the cheapest option: it is expected to cost $9,000 over four weeks ending March 25.

Trench burning would have cost $16,828 over two months and would have left behind 176 tons of ash for disposal in the landfill. Open burning would have cost a minimum of $35,600, and would have resulted in 530 tons of ash for burial, according to county officials.

The Montgomery landfill has accepted brush and debris at the reduced rate of $38 a ton since late 1991, when it purchased a grinder. The effort is part of the county's attempt to encourage recycling and reduce the amount of material going unnecessarily into the landfill, thereby extending its life.