Rochester plans for waste district uncertainties

Nov 4, 2019

ROCHESTER — Though his town isn’t a member of the Carver Marion Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District, Selectman Brad Morse suggested at a Nov. 4 meeting that it would be best to be prepared in case the district does dissolve entirely.

Morse explained that for many townspeople, the District is currently where they dump. It was formed in 1975 to allow its member towns to dispose of trash with Covanta SEMASS, which would then burn it and put ash in the Carver landfill. Though Rochester is not a member of the district, its residents have a right to buy stickers and use the district because one of the organization’s transfer stations is in Rochester. 

The District is currently considering dissolution, after Marion voted to begin exit negotiations at its October Town Meeting, and Carver Town Administrator suggested his town might do the same. 

“Not knowing where that is going, I suggest we do a bit of our own research to see what happens if we have to run our own transfer station,” Morse said. 

He explained that the sticker for the beach and transfer station would be split apart again, after being combined for a time.

However, selectmen explained that this might be a good thing, as many people complained about wanting separate stickers anyhow and having separate stickers for waste disposal would allow the town to track how many users it has for its dump.

Selectman Woody Hartley said he had gotten a call about the issue from Marion, and the other town planned to discuss the issue at its Selectmen meeting on Oct. 5.

The Rochester Selectmen also thought the issue would be a good one for a Tri-town Selectmen’s meeting