A load of garbage

Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

Garbage hauler Republic Services on Thursday agreed to pay a $1 million fine for violating the Clean Water Act when the Sunrise Landfill overflowed into Lake Mead during a 1998 storm. In a settlement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the company also agreed to properly close the landfill to prevent future problems.

The agreement misses one important point: Who will pay for the work?

Republic and Clark County are at odds over the question. County officials say it is clear Republic should pay. Republic says the ratepayers should.

In a 1999 deal with the county, Republic agreed to close the landfill in exchange for a 15-year extension of its lucrative monopoly in the Las Vegas Valley.

But now Republic is trying to back out of paying for the closure. It says it agreed to pay only $36 million. The work is now estimated at $66 million, and Republic wants ratepayers to pay the additional $30 million needed to close the landfill.

This year Republic asked the Clark County Commission for authority to raise its rates to pay for the landfill closure and ran into stiff opposition. So Republic then tried to bully the county into a rate increase, saying it would raise rates on its own if the county didn’t approve its request.

On Thursday Bob Coyle, the company’s regional president, said the company would discuss “funding mechanisms” to pay for closing the landfill with the Clark County Commission on Aug. 19.

Those “funding mechanisms” will undoubtedly be proposed rate increases, as Coyle reiterated that he thinks ratepayers should foot the bill.

Republic’s tactics are disgusting. It promised to pay to clean up the landfill and now is trying to find a way out of the deal by extorting the commission into giving it a rate increase it doesn’t deserve. The company, which reaps a healthy profit from Southern Nevada, should stop its ugly power play and do what it promised — clean up the landfill.