Contractor Explains Reason For Cobb's Garbage Backup: ICYMI

MARIETTA, GA -- Cobb's transfer stations are experienced a protracted overload due to labor shortages and other issues, the county's contractor told officials. The explanation comes after a local news report that said that trash cans were lingering on the streets of several metro area neighborhoods.

WGCL-TV recently aired a story about garbage back-ups in the area. The county's contractor, Advanced Disposal Services, said in a statement released Tuesday that the problem is not unique to Cobb, but in fact, all of metro Atlanta is experiencing the overload. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

"In the last couple of weeks, Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) and all solid waste companies in the Atlanta area that own and operate transfer stations have experienced significant volume overloads far beyond normal," the company said in a news release.

Particularly affected has been Custom Ecology Inc., the primary contractor for all of the garbage companies who own and operate transfer stations, according to ADS. The slowdown has caused privately owned and residential third-party garbage haulers to overload transfer stations in Cobb.

The company said that CEI has been hit with a perfect storm of unfortunate events -- including a severe labor shortage, "some management changes" and the failing of some equipment. The heavy rainfall as of late has also rendered one of the metro area's designated landfills a mud quagmire.

The issues meant that garbage companies that own and operate transfer stations had to close operations at some of the metro area's transfer stations.

“Looking at the glass half full, if all the transfer stations in Cobb County were privately-held, Cobb residents and smaller third party residential haulers would have been stuck with no outlet during this dilemma,” Steve Edwards, spokesman for Advanced Disposal Services, said in a statement. “Instead, Cobb County owns their transfer station under contract with us and we cannot shut it down.”

Advanced Disposal Services said that it will continue to make sure the contractor does its job at the transfer station. The company is also continuing with the process, which was started before the current situation, of hiring another contractor other than CEI.

“At this point, we do see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Edwards said. “For us, working with our contractor and cleaning up Cobb County’s transfer station and getting it back to normal is our top priority.”

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