Upton closes landfill — County waste district starts operating transfer station
Upton’s landfill closed on June 28, and on July 2, the Weston County Solid Waste District began operating a transfer station in the town to collect refuse which will then be transported to the county landfill, according to a notice on the town’s website.
The transfer station is at 301 Sherman St., which is off of Sawmill Avenue and behind Sunset Amigos Liquor and Lounge, which is located at 439 Sheridan St., the notice said. Weston County Solid Waste District determines the rates, and residents can call the district at 307-629-1548 if they have questions, according to the notice.
Heather Davies, the district’s office manager, told the News Letter Journal on July 28 that the transfer station will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday. Residents with large loads — ones that require a trailer — must take the loads themselves to the county landfill in Newcastle, which is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, according to Davies. The rates at both sites are $70 per ton for Weston County residents and $75 per ton for people who don’t live in the county.
The News Letter Journal has attempted to collect information about the impending closure of the Upton landfill since the spring, and on May 28, Davies directed the NLJ to contact Upton officials for that information.
Multiple emails and calls to Mark Lindstrom, Upton’s public works superintendent, on May 27, June 3, and June 9, to receive more information went unanswered. Contact information for Upton Mayor Nick Trandahl has been requested, but has not been provided and is not available on the town’s website.
Upton Clerk-Treasurer Kelley Millar told the NLJ in an email on May 27 that Lindstrom, the person to contact regarding the landfill closure, would be out of the office that week and some of the following week. When the NLJ called to follow up on June 17, Millar said that Lindstrom works in the field and doesn’t keep office hours and that she would leave him a message. To this date, Lindstrom has not responded.