Pennsylvania hauler to pay more than $100,000 in damages for illegal dumping

Pocono Sanitation, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, was ordered by a Monroe County, Pennsylvania judge to pay the Monroe County Municipal Waste Management Authority $104,474 in damages and fees after dumping waste in unapproved landfills, a report by the Pocono Record says.

Pocono Sanitation is one of three haulers sued by the authority, the report says. Murray’s Roll-Off Service, Mount Pocono, paid the authority a $11,000 settlement before the case could reach tries. Complete Hauling & Mobile Dumpster Service, Lackawanna County, had to pay the authority $45,806 in damages and fees. The cases earned $161,280 in total settlement money.

The haulers did not abide by the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101), enacted in 1988, that requires Pennsylvania’s county governments or designees to plan and oversee collection, transportation and disposal of municipal and other waste while implementing county-wide municipal waste management plans in 10-year intervals, according to the report. The Waste Management Authority was chosen by the county in 1998 to administer and enforce its 10-year waste management plan.

Two landfills were approved for municipal waste dumping in Monroe County by the authority under the plan, the report says. Alliance Landfill in Taylor, Pennsylvania, serves the county’s northern portion while Grand Central Sanitary Landfill in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, serves the southern portion.