By James Massara
CCN News Director
The Crawford County Landfill could be led by a new operations team as early as Saturday.
According to James Thaxton, legal counsel for Rumpke Waste and Recycling Services located near Cincinnati, Rumpke hopes to close a deal to obtain the lease for the landfill currently held by Santek Waste Services, which is based out of Cleveland, Tennessee.
The landfill is under the ownership of Crawford County.
Crawford County Commissioner Doug Weisenauer said the county receives a monthly check from Santek based on the gate receipts of the facility. He said the specifics of investment costs and other financial obligations would be settled between the two private companies.
Weisenauer said the public will see no effects on the services provided to them, just a change in what entity provides them.
Thaxton said Rumpke officials hope to close the deal after the end of business Friday.
Reports of Rumpke employees at the landfill were made, but Thaxton said those individuals were not actively working at the site, but were learning about the existing operations.
“We want a transition to be as smooth as possible,” Thaxton said.
He added Rumpke has been working with current employees of the landfill to move through the process of bringing them in as Rumpke employees, as long as they meet the standard company requirements.
“These people are doing a fine job,” Thaxton said. “We want to continue things with the good work they are producing. We have no intention of shoving current employees out.”
Thaxton said the size of the work force is expected to remain the same, but said company officials would love to speak with the county about future growth.
If the deal does go through, Rumpke could begin operations as early as the half-day shift Saturday morning.
“We’re excited to have the opportunity to grow our presence and service north central Ohio and its communities,” Thaxton said.