Board OKs operations of three recycling firms

Silver State Disposal Service failed Thursday to persuade the Board of Health that three licensed trash recyclers should be stopped from operating in Clark County.

Silver State, which has the exclusive right to handle solid waste in the county, questioned the companies recycling operations and accused the firms of being competitors.

However, the board OK'd the companies' requests operate, but the move gives the Health District the authority for the first time to govern the operations and make sure they adhere to future health regulations.

The three companies that compete with Silver State are: Nevada Construction Cleanup Inc., 2745 N. Nellis Blvd.; Evergreen Corp., 5491 Accurate Drive; and Lunas Construction Clean Up Inc., 4830 E. Cartier Ave. They have been doing business for several years as transfer stations in the processing of discarded construction materials.

The companies' business licenses allow them to recycle unuseable construction materials for resale as other products.

Silver State attorneys argued that the companies have been operating as garbage dumps. Silver State's position is that they are in violation of its exclusive franchise to handle trash in Clark County.

"It's solid waste," Silver State attorney Robert Groesbeck said. "If it's solid waste, the applicants aren't licensed to handle solid waste."

Groesbeck challenged the companies to prove that they were actually recycling materials and that they had customers. He also accused the three companies of transporting unrecycled solid waste for disposal to the Western Elite Inc. salvage yard in Lincoln County.

That brought a vociferous denial from former U.S. Attorney Lamond Mills, who is also vice president of Western Elite.

"We are licensed, in operation, and we are selling our materials," Mills proclaimed. "I resent the accusation that we are operating some sort of garbage disposal dump. We have a market for everything we produce. It's not going to some unorganized landfill."

Mills said Western Elite is a salvage yard and compost facility, not a permanent landfill.

Silver State Disposal is the only licensed landfill operator in Clark County. It's facility is located at Apex, a remote area 19 miles north of Las Vegas.

Board members Stephanie Smith and Erin Kenny were adamant about insuring the public's health safety near the three transfer sites.

"We should not let people operate before everything is in place," Kenny said, adding that she didn't understand why they were licensed before adhering to the county regulations.

Edmund Wojcik, environmental health engineer, said it has been a question of the regulations trying to catch up with the community demands. Companies get licensed, he said, and then are made to comply with new regulations as the arise.

Representatives from all three transfer stations said they could produce proof that they have customers buying their recycled materials. They all said they don't store or bury solid waste on their properties. They also said they each pay Silver State $300,000 a month to take the solid waste left over after materials have been recycled out.

"I have a bin with metal in it, and a bin with wood in it, and I have a guy who comes to pick them up," said Chi Chi Bengochea, a representative from Lunas Construction Clean Up Inc. "To me, that's a transaction. We don't dump at Western Elite. We dump at Silver State."

Robert Dorinson, president of Evergreen Corp., likewise said he could produce receipts of materials sold to customers.

"We are not renegades," Dorinson said. "We are being pro-active. We are coming forward voluntarily."

Kenny attempted to table a vote on the applications until a public hearing was conducted and issues raised by Silver State were investigated. She failed to win board support.

Immediately following board approval of the transfer station's applications, Kenny asked that their applications be "reconsidered" at the next board meeting following further investigations of their operations.

Kenny, who is also up for reelection as a Clark County commissioner, denied any conflict of interest with Silver State Disposal, even though the company contributed $4,000 to her reelection campaign.

"I belive Silver State gives money to all the candidates," she said in defense.

The 1995 Legislature set a goal for companies that generate solid waste to recycle 25 percent of its materials by the year 2000. According to Clare Schmutz, environmental health director, Clark County is only at 16 percent.

"Silver State is trying to shut down every recycler in Nevada," a jubilant Mills said immediately after winning board approval. "But that's not the future -- to dump everything in Silver State's glory hole in Apex."

Tom Gardner, regulatory manager of Environmental Technologies, a subsidiary of Silver State, declined to comment on the board's decision.

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