Comment on Charleston offers to assist in recycling cleanup

Staff reports The city of Charleston has offered to assist in cleaning up the Slack Street recycling center, according to a press release from the mayor's office.Mayor Danny Jones said in a statement Thursday the city's refuse workers could work overtime to help remove plastic and other flammable materials at the recycling center if the Solid Waste Authority, Kanawha County and Waste Management "can agree on a plan of action."Slack Street's operator George Hunyadi--owner of West Virginia Recycling Services--and the Solid Waste Authority have stopped doing business together, leaving the authority to deal with a large amount of recyclables.Hunyadi removed a baling machine and other equipment from Slack Street, which means the Solid Waste Authority can't sort the materials there.Hours will be cut back at Slack Street, and the facility will no longer accept glass beginning next week.The city will continue to collect recyclables from residents.The authority is contracting Waste Management to haul materials and operates the city's landfill and commercial refuse and recycling collection, the statement read.The authority has taken about 100 tons of recyclables to a recycling center in Raleigh County, but most of it remains.Jones said the city has been taking its own recyclables to Raleigh County, as well.The city would also take materials that can no longer be recycled to its landfill, as long as the county would pay, Jones stated.Jones' office stated the ever increasing piles of materials are "posing a serious potential health and environmental hazard within the city of Charleston.""If that accumulation catches fire, the impact on the air we breathe and water we drink would be disastrous, especially since the center is up river from the water company's intake," Jones stated.