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“Outstanding service. They were extremely careful delivering the extra large container into our driveway.” -- A. L. GARNER
CHEYENNE, Wyo.- The City of Cheyenne has been in the process of incorporating more commercial waste frontload trucks and containers for the past three years. They currently have three and have plans for an additional truck in the upcoming year. Public Works Director Vicki Nemecek says the newer trucks not only reduce intense manual labor, but increase safety for workers and help Cheyenne's economy.The trucks only require one person to drive the vehicle, and instead of using two additional workers to load the truck by hand, the driver now only has to pick up the trash using the truck. The driver may have to get out of the truck to open the enclosed containment area, but the truck does the rest of the work.One of the city drivers of the newer trucks, Robert Alcon, says his job has gotten both safer and easier. Pointing to the frontload truck, he said, "This here, if someone wants to retire, this is the job to have right here." Alcon says the older rear-load trucks required more work and... (KGWN)
Our department just feels that we were lucky that we were in a position to mobilize and send crews down there,” public information specialist senior Cheyenne Krause said. “They needed our help, and we were more than happy to give it.”In total, the crew replaced 122 stop signs and fixed 73 of 79 broken stop lights, which would’ve presented a major problem if left unchecked as residents returned to the city, Krause said.Victoria faces another problem as most of the local repair crews had to miss work due to damage to their own homes, leaving little time to try and fix wreckage all throughout the city, Krause said.“They were dealing with personal damage to their own property as well and still trying to help their own community,” Krause said. “I think that was really motivating for our guys to see as well, so I think that was a really good team effort between the communities.”Public relations junior Braelyn Bianchi, a resident of Victoria, said she really appreciated that large cities such as Austin were not forgetting about small towns affected by the storm.“It’s really comforting to me since my hometown needs some help and my new town is helping out,” Bianchi said. “It’s a natural disaster, and there’s nothing we could’ve done to prevent it. You just have to take baby steps in making it better, and I think that’s what our towns are trying to do.”... (UT The Daily Texan)
Each week, he said, a private company empties twenty dumpsters spread across the park and drops the waste in Cheyenne’s landfill. Richardson said he is not aware of any entities that could transport recycling from Curt Gowdy. “Nobody services this area,” Richardson said. “It would be something we’d have to collect ourselves and take it to town or take it to the landfill. I don’t even know if the landfill even has recycle boxes or anything.”Richardson said, if there was a way to have recycling hauled away, he would put bins around the park. But Curt Gowdy is nearly 30 miles from Cheyenne and it is hard to take advantage of the city’s services.You would think recycling would be easy for a park situated inside a town. The location has not helped Kevin Skates, the superintendent of Wyoming’s busiest state park in the middle of Thermopolis.“Right now, we are not recycling at all,” Skates said.Since the town of Thermopolis lacks a recycling program, so does Hot Springs State Park.Meanwhile, Grand Teton National Park is trying to deliver its waste to Teton County’s transfer station themselves. And they’re trying to send less of it to the landfill. Sustainability Coordinator Margaret Wilson said, for a long time, Grand Teton was like most state parks – they didn’t have money or staff to devote to recycling. Then they joined the Zero Landfill Initiative – a pilot project to try and divert most of the waste generated inside national parks. Wilson said part of that is educating tourists.“[We’re] trying to reach people before they come and visit and let them try to pack accordingly," Wilson said. “Say, bring refillable water bottles, or maybe bring utensils.”With supporters like Subaru and the National Park Foundation, Grand Teton could afford to hire a new recycling crew and place bins all over the park. Last year, it diverted a third of its waste through recycling. Wilson said they made some discoveries about the makeup of Grand Teton's trash.“I think the most surprising, at least for me, was that 50 percent of our waste is compostable,” Wilson said.So the park, along with a few businesses in Jackson, started hauling food waste to an industrial composter in West Yellowstone more than 75 miles away. Wilson said that will change – Teton County plans to open up its own compost facility in 2020. Right now, the park’s trash and recyclables go with Jackson’s waste to Idaho.Wilson said in the last year, she has learned a lot about the park’s waste system – and... (Wyoming Public Media)
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne City Council’s Finance Committee on Wednesday supported a proposed increase in city trash fees.Councilmen Richard Johnson and Pete Laybourn, who are Finance Committee members, voted 2-0 to recommend that the City Council approve the rates when it meets Monday.Committee Chairman Mike Luna was absent Wednesday, so committee member Jeff White served as the acting chairman. As chairman, White was not allowed to vote except to break a tie.The proposed rate hikes call for an across-the-board increase of 8 percent for trash and sanitation services.Average residential trash customers now pay $25.70 a month and would pay $2.05 a month more, or $27.75 a month, if the increase is approved.The proposed hike would raise the average commercial trash fee from $89.40 a month to $96.55 a month, or an increase of $7.15 a month, according to Craig LaVoy, deputy public works director for the city of Cheyenne. The Cheyenne City Council originally killed the proposed hikes May 8 in a... (Wyoming Tribune)
MEAD GRUVER, Associated PressUS won't fine company for spilling radioactive sludge outside Utah waste disposal facility (File photo: MGN Online)CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The agency that regulates the U.S. nuclear industry will not fine a Canadian uranium mining company for twice spilling low-level radioactive sludge outside a Utah waste disposal facility, giving the company credit for efforts to prevent the problem from recurring.Saskatoon, Canada-based Cameco faced a $35,000 fine from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Commission officials told Cameco they won't seek a fine in part because the company plans in the future to store the barium sulfate sludge in bags within the trucks."However, significant violations in the future could result in a civil penalty," NRC Deputy Regional Administrator Scott Morris wrote the company June 29.Cameco is pleased to have resolved the problem to the NRC's satisfaction, company spokesman Gord Struthers said Wednesday.Shipments of barium sulfate sludge from the Smith Ranch in-situ uranium mine and processing facility in northeast Wyoming will resume after the NRC has signed off on Cameco's correc... (KUTV 2News)