This week, Dillingham landfill employees began burning municipal trash.
Credit Matt Martin/KDLG
Poncho Garcia is the Public Works Director for the City of Dillingham. He says the incinerator heats up to about 1,300 to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We’re going through about 5,000 pounds of trash a day. And once we get the other addition help we’re probably going to pump that up to 10,000 pounds or more a day,” said Garcia.
The city purchased and installed the incinerator after the Department of Environmental Conservation did not renew a permit for open burning.
City Manager Rose Loera says the new incinerator will help to save the city costs and clean up the landfill.
“You won’t see bears trying to get into the cells. The bird activity would diminish tremendously,” said Loera.
The incinerator does not handle glass, and the City is continuing to ask residents to sort glass from their trash and take them to drop-off locations around town.
Matt Martin is a reporter for KDLG in Dillingham.
