St. Bernard suspends garbage collection fee as disposal bill climbs

by The Times-Picayune

Raising questions about the billing practices of the parish's contracted garbage hauler, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro on Friday issued an executive order suspending the implementation of a $20-per-month fee that residents were to begin paying in December.

Taffaro's order says collection of the fee will be suspended until "questionable costs" stemming from SDT Waste & Debris disposal of waste generated by the parish are examined. SDT is owned by Sidney Torres IV, a Chalmette native who entered the waste collection business after Hurricane Katrina.

St. Bernard Parish officials have questioned bills submitted by SDT for the costs of disposing St. Bernard's waste in the River Birch Landfill in Waggaman. The tonnage being disposed in the landfill has increased significantly, prompting St. Bernard officials to question whether the parish is paying for the disposal of waste from other parishes or commercial customers as well as its own.

SDT operates a transfer station in Chalmette where the company drops off waste from St. Bernard and other sources before hauling it to the landfill.

SDT has said the parish has generated more waste as it rebuilds from Hurricane Katrina and that it is not paying to dispose waste from other sources.

Also Friday, St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman Wayne J. Landry said he will ask the Parish Council next week to allow him to open a formal investigation into the garbage collection issue.

Landry said he and Councilman George Cavignac also planned to introduce an ordinance to rescind the garbage collection fee, which the council approved this summer to offset the cost of collection and disposal.

St. Bernard Parish residents have not paid a collection fee since 1989. A half-cent sales tax is dedicated to garbage collection.