Northampton In 'State Of Emergency' Over Trash Collection Delays

NORTHAMPTON, PA — Northampton's Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to declare a state of emergency at their September meeting, in order to mobilize resources toward dealing with mounting trash, recycling, and yard waste in the township.

The township's contracted trash hauler since 2017, J.P. Mascaro & Sons, reportedly misses collections on a regular basis. Secretary Frank O'Donnell said he believes his street has been passed over more than five times.

"As we are all aware, the township’s contracted trash collector J.P. Mascaro & Sons continues to underperform on its obligation to collect and dispose of household waste, recycling material, and yard waste throughout our community," he said in a statement at the meeting. "This has resulted in hundreds of calls each day to report missing collections, and the accumulation of waste materials on township streets and in the front yards of homes."

Supervisors said the township building has received more than 15,000 calls in the past 15 months with reports of missed collections, with the majority of calls coming in this spring and summer.

The company has attributed the delays to hiring difficulties amid a labor shortage of CDL drivers and other workers in the sanitation industry. Mascaro has reiterated that it will solve this problem.

“No evidence to date suggests that improved collection will happen any time soon," O'Donnell said.

Mascaro's service specifically has come under fire in several Bucks County towns over the past year, including Upper and Lower Southampton, Bristol Borough, and Warminster. Both Warminster and Northampton sought emergency collection services from other haulers this month but all have refused, saying they have only enough resources to cover their current contracts.

Vice Chairman Eileen Silver said the board was “appalled” to see that Mascaro had put out an advertisement soliciting more business recently.

After a 5-0 vote in favor of declaring a state of emergency, Northampton has put several changes in motion.

Effective immediately, Northampton supervisors will make a 20 percent reduction in township payments to Mascaro to cover the cost of emergency action.

The township has also stationed several yard waste collection bins in the area, open from 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. weekdays, so that Mascaro can focus on collecting trash and recycling. Residents can bring yard waste to these locations:

• Old Police Station
• Park Maintenance Building, 283 Hatboro Road
• Big Meadow Park, 249 Stoneyford Road
• St. Leonards Road, Hampton Estates Ballfields, 350 St. Leonards Road

Free bags will also be available to residents to collect their yard waste.

Supervisors urged residents to continue reporting missed collections so that a record is available. Township Manager Robert Pellegrino also asked for patience with township employees during this crisis of trash collection.

“We’re all spending an inordinate amount of time on this issue, which we shouldn’t have to do,” he said.

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