Sullivan County to enforce garbage flow control law

MONTICELLO – Sullivan County is going to more rigorously enforce the county’s existing “flow control” law that mandates that trash generated locally must be brought to a local disposal location.

“Haulers who collect garbage in Sullivan County but then transport it outside Sullivan’s boundaries are breaking the law, and we’re stepping up efforts to monitor, ticket and fine any commercial hauling companies which permit their drivers to illegally ship trash to out-of-County locations,” said District 7 Legislator Joe Perrello, chairman of the legislature’s Public Works Committee and vice chairman of the legislature.

“A primary reason for flow control is due to our contract with the upstate landfill to which we send our garbage: Seneca Meadows,” he said. “If we don’t make our tonnage obligations, our rates can increase.”

The county’s administrative code mandates that “unless authorized by the rules or by an order of the Commissioner of Public Works, no person shall pick up or haul solid waste and/or recyclables generated inside the County to a solid waste management facility located outside of the County.”

“That rule has been in place for decades, but recently, we’ve discovered that some garbage hauling companies are taking trash to Orange County or Pennsylvania, where tipping fees are cheaper,” Perrello said.

Late last year, legislators authorized the increase of 2025 tipping fees for trash removal companies bringing waste to Sullivan County-operated transfer stations, upping the fee from $120 to $136.50 for municipal solid waste and to $150 a ton for construction & demolition debris.

“We were forced to raise rates because of our rising exportation costs,” Perrello said. “We decided to spread the cost of the system more fairly across actual users instead of taxpayers, who have for decades subsidized the solid waste system. As a result, haulers who bypass our facilities cheat the taxpayers of Sullivan County. We are going to put a stop to that.”

Any commercial user or solid waste collector or hauler convicted of violating the county’s flow control law could be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500 for the first offense, $1,000 for the second offense and $1,500 for each subsequent offense, and/or being jailed for up to six months.