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Massena mayor says awareness campaign in the works in light of recent garbage crackdown

Posted 7/6/15

MASSENA -- Mayor Tim Currier says in light of a recent crackdown on improper garbage disposal, St. Lawrence County and the village will launch a public awareness campaign. “In the coming days and …

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Massena mayor says awareness campaign in the works in light of recent garbage crackdown

Posted

MASSENA -- Mayor Tim Currier says in light of a recent crackdown on improper garbage disposal, St. Lawrence County and the village will launch a public awareness campaign.

“In the coming days and weeks, the public works staff will launch a public relations effort designed to educate our customers on proper refuse and recycling procedures, so that our citizens will understand the rules and will be able to follow the local laws with ease,” Currier said Monday afternoon. “I recognize we failed to inform the public of these issues and provide them with adequate time to become compliant, causing an inconvenience to many people.”

In light of recent correspondence from St. Lawrence County Solid Waste indicating they will be increasing garbage inspections to ensure compliance with the county’s solid waste law, Massena’s refuse department began requiring compliance with the regulations. This led to bags of refuse being tagged for failing to use clear garbage bags or failing to recycle properly, and leaving the garbage at the curb, Currier said.

He says public works staff in the next two days will collect refuse that was left at the curbside following the rash of ticketed bags last week.

Once this public relations effort is completed, Currier says the village will ask everyone to comply with the rules and follow the laws. At that time, refuse staff will be directed to ensure the refuse and recyclables collected complies with the rules and local laws.

“I regret the inconvenience this has caused people. This renewed emphasis on proper recycling was not rolled out in a customer friendly manner. We should have done better, and we will do better in the future,” Currier said. “Obviously recycling is good for the environment in a number of ways. It also saves us money, both in the short term as it cost our customers about half of what regular refuse does to remove, and in the long term as recycling saves productions cost on future products. It is in all of our interests to maximize efforts to properly recycle.”

The county’s guidelines for refuse and recycling are at http://www.co.st-lawrence.ny.us/Departments/SolidWaste/Recycling