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Manure
not worth its weight in gold
by
Dawn Abbey
NORTH VALLEY - Horse owners are raising a stink over a new
Waste Management, Inc., policy to charge waste container
customers based on a container's weight when full of manure.
Many residents in the North Valley saw monthly bills skyrocket
two to four times higher in March.
Patrick and Dawn Morris of Rio Verde received a notice from
Waste Management in late February alerting them that their
monthly fee of $61 was being raised to $260.
"About $23 of that was for a 'fuel surcharge,'"
said Dawn Morris. "Before January, we had paid about
$45 a month for the last four years."
In addition, Morris claims that every neighbor she has talked
to is being charged a different rate.
John Reilly, also of Rio Verde, said he got the Waste Management
letter one day and his higher bill the next. He related
that as a
businessman he can understand rate increases, but thought
charging for the full weight of manure was unfair.
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"The
last time ( of pick up), my two yard container was filled to the
brim, but there are months when it might sit empty," he said.
"Most times, manure is only about one fourth of the load."
Reilly is no longer using the dumpster for manure, thereby retaining
his regular lower rate.
Cave Creek resident Robert Morris (no relation to Patrick and Dawn
Morris) said his complaint was not so much the price, which jumped
from $63 to $133 for a two yard container, but the lack of customer
consideration.
"After I got my notice letter from Waste Management signed
by Rich Yager, I called him immediately-and again March 3, 9, 15
and 20, and left messages each time, none of which were returned,"
said Morris.
"After 10 days, I called customer service and talked to "Leslie,"
who assured me Rich would call. He didn't. I finally got ahold of
Ron Scipp, supposedly Rich's manager, and Rich finally called 24
hours later."
Although Yager apologized for not calling sooner, and even offered
him a lower service fee of $85, according to Morris, he was unrelenting.
"When you send out a letter like that, you should be available
24 hours a day until you answer all your customers' concerns,"
Morris declared.
"And why the lower fee? What is the price? Is $133 the price
or is it different if you complain?"
Morris cancelled his dumpster service and bought a grinder and spreader.
"I have five acres and only two horses, so it works for me,"
he said. Morris cautioned that if people are going to compost and
spread their own manure, they should do so responsibly to avoid
fly and odor problems for their neighbors.
Don Cassano, government affairs director for Waste Management, said
the company has been doing an audit for the last three months to
identify customers who routinely use waste containers for disposing
of manure.
"Our landfills are charging our trucking company higher fees
and fuel costs have gone up significantly, so we had to raise our
rates based on the weight of the containers," he said. According
to Cassano, both the Waste Management landfills and trucking are
owned by the company.
Waste Management's position is that if a container is used for any
manure, the customer is charged the flat rate for that size container
as if it were full of manure. Cassano said that if customers do
not use their container for any manure, their rate would remain
the same.
While conceding it would be possible to hide a bit of manure at
the bottom of a container and cover it with household trash, he
cautioned that the company's truck drivers are pretty good at sensing
the weight of their vehicle after picking up a container load.
When asked about complaints regarding disparity in pricing, Cassano
said the new rate is $138 for a two yard container for manure. (Robert
Morris claims he was quoted $133 for a two yard container.) He noted
that long time customers who have been paying much less might see
their bills go up more than newer customers.
Meanwhile, the question remains: If customers stop using Waste Management
to haul away their horse manure, where will it all go?
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