Story was updated on June 30.
After weeks of widespread delays and frustration, commercial trash pickup in Rio Arriba County has been suspended, North Central Solid Waste Authority Interim General Manager Janet Saucedo confirmed on June 29.
The Authority’s residential garbage pickup services continue.
The Authority’s commercial accounts that use front load dumpsters — including medical facilities, restaurants, retail and office buildings in Española and Rio Arriba County, including Chama — could be required to haul their own garbage to a transfer station.
Saucedo did not know how long the suspension in services could last, but she indicated that the Authority was prepared to credit its commercial accounts for two months.
She said all four of the entity’s front load trucks are inoperable, with the most recent breakdown occurring three weeks ago. During that time, Authority employees were making collections with flatbed trucks, handpicking overflow garbage from commercial dumpsters. Staff has prioritized medical facilities, food establishments, schools and RV parks, in that order.
Brenda Romero, hospital chief executive at Presbyterian Española Hospital indicated the facility has not been significantly affected by garbage collection delays or suspensions at this time.
“This has not been a significant issue for us yet at Presbyterian Española Hospital,” Romero wrote in an email on June 30. “Most of the commercial trash generated by the hospital is compacted and then emptied by North Central with other equipment.”
“We do not have any other option for picking up commercial accounts,” Saucedo said, adding that she has exhausted potential options for renting or borrowing equipment from other entities, including the counties of Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Bernalillo and Taos as well as Albuquerque.
The Authority is waiting on delivery of a part for one of its front load trucks. Saucedo said the delay is likely due to supply shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What we have found is that we are not the only entity experiencing these challenges,” she said. “This is a nationwide issue, and we are working diligently to find solutions.”
Residential garbage pickup service has also been delayed in many areas of the county in recent weeks, which Saucedo attributed to heavy rains that cause muddy conditions in some areas of the county.
Rio Arriba County Manager Lucía Sánchez — a member on the Authority’s board of directors — called the garbage situation a “tipping point.” She pointed to some local circumstances that she said contributed to the crisis at the Authority. Sánchez said the hundreds of miles of rural roads the trucks traverse regularly to provide service throughout the 5,896-square-mile county cause excessive wear and tear on the vehicles. She also emphasized that the steep costs associated with hauling solid waste to Rio Rancho Landfill could be avoided with the establishment of a landfill in the county.
“Our people deserve a landfill in Rio Arriba County,” Sánchez said. “We need Congress to act to designate federal land for a landfill.”
The county Facebook page has been regularly sharing the Authority’s updates on service interruptions, Sánchez said, and four county Public Works Department employees along with two trucks were sent to assist the Authority’s crews.
“If we had the proper tools, we could get the job done,” Sánchez said, adding that she made a request to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for $10 million for trash trucks, equipment and front end loaders.
“This didn’t happen overnight, but we’re going to work as hard as we can to find a solution,” she said.
In recent years, the SUN’s reporting on the Authority has highlighted instances of service delays, fleet breakdowns, financial problems and simmering resentment among customers.
Some residents and business owners in the valley interviewed recently by the SUN expressed frustration over accumulating garbage from interrupted pickup service and conflicting communications from the Authority while others reported minor delays that have passed without significant impact.
Ivan Herrera, who owns 420 Emporium, said he pays $60 per month to use the building’s dumpster. When it recently overflowed, he said he tried to take his business’s trash to the Authority’s transfer station in Alcalde to find that it was closed for the night.
“I put everything in my truck now, and every night I go drop it off at their office,” Herrera said. “We are paying for a service with the trash department that we are not receiving. Why am I paying a monthly bill for a service I’m not receiving?”
Staff at Motel 6 in Española said dumpsters there have been emptied only halfway in recent weeks by crews picking out garbage bags by hand. The remaining garbage has developed a “horrible smell” over time, a front desk worker said on June 30, though “it hasn’t affected business drastically yet because it is still being taken out.”
The operations manager at CVS said on June 30 that the store’s dumpster was full after a missed pickup the current week.
Romiro Armando Suarez, Jr., of Medanales, has been hauling residential garbage for customers in the valley as a side business for years, he said, but lately he has been receiving more requests.
“I get most of my business in Española,” Suarez, Jr. said. “This has been going on for months already. A lot of my neighbors’ bins aren’t getting picked up. And people are getting the run-around. You’d be amazed at how many messages I get from people whose trash isn’t getting picked up — about 15 to 20 a day.”
Española Mayor John Ramon Vigil said the city has been receiving calls daily about the ongoing problem but “there is no clear-cut answer.” Vigil is planning a city council work session to take place on July 5 to explore all issues pertaining to the Authority.
“At the end of the day, the City of Española has to evaluate all avenues to provide sanitation services to the constituents of the city,” Vigil said.
City employees organized a crew on June 24 to empty seven of the city’s dumpsters so the Authority could focus on service to other accounts, Danielle Bustos, of the Utility Department, said. Workers from the General Services, Public Works and Water departments emptied the dumpsters and hauled the garbage after a four-week delay in pickup.
Española City Councilor Peggy Sue Martinez — who was appointed in April to represent the city on the Authority’s board of directors — described a troubling scenario unfolding at the solid waste entity during a city council meeting on June 28.
“I have grave concerns about what is happening,” Martinez said, “I don’t see a resolution happening anytime soon.”
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