WILLIAMSPORT -- Department of Environmental Protection staff found 20 operational and safety violations on 16 trucks during a July 22 landfill inspection at the Wayne Township Landfill in Clinton County.
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“We made this inspection a priority to help improve compliance with DEP’s environmental regulations and state traffic safety laws,” said DEP North-central Waste Management Program Manager James Miller. “We have conducted thousands of trash truck inspections over the past two decades because we want to get unsafe trash trucks off the highways.”
DEP regional staff inspected 45 trucks and discovered 20 violations among 16 trucks, including eight violations for transporting residual waste with no preparedness, prevention and contingency plan; five violations for a leaking load; two violations for holes in the tarp; two violations for transporting residual waste without proper safety equipment; one violation for not having proper signs; one violation for waste not properly enclosed; and one violation for a discharged fire extinguisher.
All of the violations were against the haulers, not the landfill.
Trash haulers must obtain authorization from DEP through Act 90—the state’s Waste Transportation Safety Act—to haul trash in Pennsylvania. DEP inspectors look at compliance history and may revoke authorization to transport waste if outstanding violations exist or there is an inability to comply with Act 90 regulations.
In addition to checking the Act 90 authorization, DEP inspectors look for fire extinguisher and sign violations, drivers not properly managing waste during transport, leaking loads, improper covers over the waste, trucks that are overweight or otherwise overloaded, and log book or record-keeping violations.
For more information, call 570-327-3659 or visit www.depweb.state.pa.us.
