Sierra Madre : Trash Rates Go Up in April
Trash bills are going up $6.38 in April to cover the costs of settling a suit for cleanup of the former Operating Industries Inc. landfill in Monterey Park.
The city is attempting to recoup about $200,000 it will pay to lawyers who settled the case and $410,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency for cleanup of the toxic site. Council members said the trash fee will be repealed after four years.
No fee will be assessed to residents with “single-can” service who do not generate high volumes of trash. A proportional fee schedule for duplex, apartment and townhouse dwellers was also agreed to by the council, and a $15 monthly cap per customer was set.
Sierra Madre is one of 10 cities that have agreed to settle a lawsuit by 65 corporations that in 1990 sued 29 Los Angeles County cities that dumped trash at the landfill. The companies, in turn, had been sued by the EPA to pay for the cleanup.
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