BOCC still sorting through North Fork garbage mess

KINGSTON — In May, the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners made the decision to move the dumpsters along the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River from the Bumblebee Bridge down to their current location at the check station off Coeur d’Alene River Road.

The move was made to attempt to cut down on locals using the dumpsters for their own trash service and not as a dumpster with the primary goal of cutting back on trash left by river visitors over the summer.

However, the contents of the trash once again seem to contain a higher concentration of trash that doesn’t fit the profile of weekend camping trash.

Despite the county monitoring the sites via camera and there being increased patrols along the North Fork, it hasn’t deterred folks from continuing to dump their household trash into the dumpster.

“We’ve found quite a few appliances and hot water heaters already this year,” Commissioner Jay Huber said in a recent interview. “These dumpsters are up there for the people recreating on the river. They aren’t up there for local folks to be dumping their household trash.”

There have been discussions to possibly move them again, with the former Albert’s Landing being a potential location. It would have a caretaker who could potentially monitor the dumping in person, but no decision on that has been made at this point.

When the dumpster was positioned at Bumblebee, the county spent nearly $30,000 last year picking up garbage and dropping off empty dumpsters, so the hope was the move would allow Shoshone County to save some money.

“Last year, we were picking up that dumpster roughly every other day,” said Commissioner John Hansen. “It cost the county roughly $28,000 in fees and fuel to maintain the dumpster.”

The North Fork has been a constant concern and project for the BOCC, and it seems like that won’t be changing any time soon.

MCE Garbage and Recycling, the company who manages the dumpster could not be reached for comment (possibly due to them being busy sorting their way through a dumpster full of appliances).