HELENA — A company that has long provided trash hauling services in the Helena Valley is in the process of transferring its operation to a large national company.
Tri-County Disposal has gotten approval to hand off its hauling permit, and it’s also seeking to transfer ownership of a landfill near East Helena.
(Watch the video to hear more reaction about this possible transfer.)
Mary Nielsen has been a Tri-County customer on and off for about 20 years.
“I enjoy their service – there's nothing wrong with their service,” she said.
She said she wasn’t aware there might be a change to her service provider.
“I'm kind of surprised to find out that the company is switching over to different haulers,” she said.
Tri-County held a state permit to haul garbage in Helena and within 35 miles of city limits. In June, they submitted an application to the Montana Public Service Commission, to transfer that permit to Montana Waste Systems – part of Republic Services, one of the largest solid waste companies nationwide. Republic already has operations in several other parts of Montana, including Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman and the Flathead.
Last week, the PSC signed off on the transfer, ruling that the application “substantially complies” with state requirements. Commissioners said, because they received no formal protests after a period of public notice, they could act on the application without a hearing. The transfer was effective Aug. 1.
Nielsen said she’s hoping that the switch to a new company won’t lead to any big changes in customer charges.
“Because we've seen with other companies that, when people change companies, that can suddenly boost costs for the consumer,” she said.
Still, she said there could be benefits. She’s currently signed up for weekly trash pickup at her home. She said she’s been interested in switching to only every other week, but that’s not an option she’s had with Tri-County.
“I think if they could offer customers maybe a chance to do a biweekly service, or even if it's every three weeks – just individual customers, what works best for them – I think might be a good direction,” Nielsen said.
The PSC is responsible for approving the hauling permit because it oversees carriers. The permitting for landfills is a separate process that goes through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
On Monday, a spokesperson for DEQ confirmed they had received a license transfer application for the Valley View Landfill, in Jefferson County just south of East Helena. He said the department is currently reviewing the application, and that it calls only for a transfer of ownership – with no changes to operations.
Still, one of Republic’s competitors raised concerns about what could happen if they took over management of the landfill. Grizzly Disposal, which is also permitted to haul garbage in Missoula County, submitted public comment to the PSC in opposition to the transfer of Tri-County’s permit.
“It's not about our company, it's about protecting competition for all Montanans,” said Grizzly Disposal general manager Billy Fisher.
Fisher said his company has been hauling trash to the Valley View Landfill for a long time because Republic hasn’t allowed them to haul to the landfill in Missoula. He said he’s concerned the same thing could happen if Republic starts running Valley View – which he said would be hard on Grizzly but also on any other companies that might want to get into the Helena market.
“The barrier to entry is way higher now,” he said. “Nobody could come in here without the financial backing that we had to start a business like that. We have twice the amount of trucks, we have twice the amount of people, that you would need in this area. So right now you wouldn't find a third person here, that's for sure.”
MTN initially spoke to Fisher last week, before the PSC finalized their decision. On Monday, he said he had already begun diverting some of his haulers from Valley View to other locations.
