By ERC BOARD
The Environmental Resource Center has a long history in strengthening the sustainability of our community's solid waste program (which includes recycling, not just trash), in partnership with Blaine County, the cities and others.
The May 19 opinion piece by Terry Schultz, Southern Idaho Solid Waste District's director, did a true disservice to this partnership and to the successful efforts of so many community members. While Mr. Schultz is certainly entitled to his opinion, he is not entitled to his own facts.
The ERC believes that our community deserves the facts. The ERC has no interest in engaging in a "he-said, she-said" exchange. That's why we have published a fully referenced and documented version of this letter at www.ercsv.org that clearly shows the facts. The ERC is confident that community members can draw their own conclusions from these facts.
Blaine County has contracted with the ERC to undertake outreach services for the community. These services were scrutinized and approved on an annual basis by the county commissioners as well as by Southern Idaho Solid Waste District and have led to a significant increase in recycling rates. The funding amounts quoted by Mr. Schultz are inaccurate and grossly inflated by as much as 90 percent.
The ERC's outreach successes are all well documented and have even been commended by the Southern Idaho Solid Waste District in its annual report: "The 8 percent increase in recycling commodities is proof that this [ERC] collaborative effort has been successful." The ERC is proud of the work it has done here and did so for far less than it would have cost county personnel and a fraction of the fictitious amount that Mr. Schultz cites.
What's more concerning than Mr. Schultz's inflated figures is his insinuation that the ERC is only criticizing Southern Idaho Solid Waste District in the wake of funding cuts.
This opinion is simply not supported by the facts. For the past three years, the ERC has pointed out numerous times the misleading information that has been put forth by Southern Idaho Solid Waste District. This latest issue regarding wasteful subsidies underscores the extent to which Southern Idaho Solid Waste District will go in distancing itself from its own poor management decisions. Again, all these letters and full subsidy documentation are readily available on the ERC's website.
After years of working in good faith to improve our solid waste system, the ERC's board of directors had concluded in a letter to the county and to Southern Idaho Solid Waste District that "after witnessing the level of misinformation perpetuated by SISW to the county's elected officials, the ERC firmly believes that a sustainable solid waste program that protects and preserves our public health and safety, our resources, and our environment is not possible in partnership with SISW without significant reforms" (July 2009).
It has become increasingly evident that Southern Idaho Solid Waste District has no mission-related reason or interest to address the recycling needs of our community.
The ERC fully supports a regional solid waste management approach. But this approach must reflect longstanding principles of "integrated" solid waste management (a system that addresses trash, recycling, reuse, organics, etc. in a comprehensive, strategic manner) and should be responsive to and reflective of the communities that it serves. Southern Idaho Solid Waste District no longer serves our community in this manner.
The county is now poised to take over the recycling efforts from Southern Idaho Solid Waste District and the ERC supports this move. Additionally, the county will be renegotiating its long-term trash agreement with Southern Idaho Solid Waste District. These negotiations are to start in 2010 and will be critical in determining what level of service our communities will realize over the next decade.
While the specific process is unclear, the ERC stands ready to actively participate to ensure the long-term sustainability of our solid waste system. Should you have any questions or input, you can contact the ERC's board of directors from the ERC's website (www.ercsv.org).
The ERC board of directors is: Erik Boe, Deborra Bohrer, Karim Merchant, Werner Morawitz, Kingsley Murphy (chair), Beverley Robertson, Mike Schlatter and Jeff Tumolo.
