HARTFORD — The Hartford transfer station will stop accepting construction waste next week, further limiting where Upper Valley contractors and builders are allowed to unload debris.
The company Hartford relied on to grind and haul away construction and demolition, or C&D, waste informed town officials this week it will no longer provide the service.
Orange, N.H.-based Hammond Grinding and Recycling blamed the decision on operational losses, Town Manager Brannon Godfrey said on Friday.
He said the transfer station will continue accepting C&D waste until June 28 as a courtesy to area businesses.
“They’re basically not going to be available to grind and haul away our waste,” Godfrey said of Hammond in a phone interview on Friday. “They let us know on Tuesday effective immediately.”
Tamra Hammond, the company’s vice president, was unavailable to comment on the matter Friday.
The company charged $31.50 per ton to grind C&D and then haul it to the Lebanon landfill, where it was used as a cover for other fresh material, Godfrey said. The arrangement made the contractor anywhere between $25,200 and $31,500 annually, he said.
The announcement comes nearly two months after the Lebanon landfill stopped accepting unprocessed construction debris. City officials said the landfill was charging too little and, without the means to grind the waste, running out of space at the facility off Route 12A.
At the time, Lebanon recommended contractors instead take C&D to Hartford, Hammond Grinding and Recycling or the Casella Waste Services transfer station on Labombard Road. Hammond and Casella still offer the service.
“We haven’t really figured out essentially what we’re going to do,” said Jeff Acker, of White River Junction-based HP Roofing.
Acker’s company used to use the Lebanon landfill and switched primarily to using Hartford in May. Other options either charge more to accept waste or require long drives, he said.
“It’s going to mean more cost. It’s going to mean more travel, more trucking, more everything,” Acker said. “We’ll have to try to figure out somewhere for this stuff to go.”
Lebanon officials believe that dilemma might be temporary. They hope to propose a new landfill ordinance next week that would once again allow people to drop off C&D waste.
However, the price to do so could nearly double to $120 per ton, up from $68 the city was charging prior to May. City officials estimate the change could raise an additional $500,000 annually and help it purchase grinding equipment.
The Lebanon City Council is scheduled to discuss the proposed ordinance at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the auditorium of the former Seminary Hill School at 20 Seminary Hill Road.
City Manager Shaun Mulholland said on Friday that representatives of 21 surrounding communities authorized to use the landfill have been invited to the meeting.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.