By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – If you live in Port Angeles, Olympic Disposal will no longer be picking up your recycling and yard waste, after the City cancelled its contract.

Beginning Monday, Olympic Disposal will start removing its recycling carts, yard waste carts, and commercial cardboard recycling containers. They’re asking all residential and commercial customers to set out their carts or ensure that their containers are accessible for removal over the next two weeks.

The contract cancellation also extends to the operation of Port Angeles and Blue Mountain Transfer Stations. Waste Connections, which is Olympic Disposal’s parent company, will no longer be operating those facilities as of Sunday, October 3. It is unclear whether the City will be taking over the operation of the transfer stations or finding another contractor.

Here’s Matt O’Connell, Division Vice President of Olympic Disposal.

“The reason that we want to get this out in the open was, the customers in Port Angeles are very important to us. We provided service there for quite a while and we wanted to make sure, first and foremost they understand what’s going on. And the City was well within their right to terminate the contract. They just kind of wanted to bring everything under their umbrella, and certainly some municipalities do that. So we respect that decision.”

But city of Port Angeles Public Works Director Thomas Hunter expressed disappointment in Olympic Disposal’s announcement. In an email to Newsradio KONP Hunter said: “The City was surprised and extremely disappointed to be made aware of WCI providing service-related communications to media concerning City residents that does not align with the contractual obligations WCI has to provide service, on behalf of the City, until a termination agreement has been finalized.” He said the city will continue to work with the company to “to facilitate a service transition in such a manner that any potential service disruption is minimized”. Hunter said the city will share its plans for the future when the details of the termination agreement are finalized and the actual service transfer dates are established.