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Lewis County adopts temporary ban on out-of-county waste at Centralia transfer station

By The Olympian staff
With the Hawks Prairie Waste and Recovery Center closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, data suggests that Thurston County residents have been hauling their trash to Lewis County’s Centralia Transfer Station. That will end Friday, when Lewis County will start requiring ID to keep out-of-county trash out.
With the Hawks Prairie Waste and Recovery Center closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, data suggests that Thurston County residents have been hauling their trash to Lewis County’s Centralia Transfer Station. That will end Friday, when Lewis County will start requiring ID to keep out-of-county trash out. Mike Salsbury Olympian file photo

Without naming names, the Lewis County Solid Waste Division announced Wednesday that, beginning Friday, it will begin turning away customers bringing in waste from outside Lewis County.

Seeing as Thurston County’s Hawks Prairie Waste & Recovery Center has been closed to self-haul customers (although it reopened Thursday) and the Lewis County transfer station in Centralia is a few short miles from south Thurston County, it’s pretty clear who the offenders have been.

“People are taking advantage of the weather and spring cleaning,” said Greg Gachowsky, manager of the Lewis County Department of Public Works, Solid Waste Division, which operates the Centralia Transfer Station. “We have been seeing record numbers of customers in the last several days when people have been advised to follow the governor’s stay-at-home order. Add in larger numbers of people from other counties, and we simply cannot safely handle the waste.”

Transfer station staff may request to see identification from customers visiting the facility. So be prepared, Gachowsky advised in a written statement.

The transfer station has already implemented several preventive hygiene measures to protect employees and customers in response to COVID-19. Other measures in place, according to the statement:

  • Customers can no longer pay in cash or check. Transfer stations in Lewis County will only accept credit or debit cards. There is no fee for using cards during this period.
  • The Hazo Hut and ReUse Center at the transfer station in Centralia are temporarily closed.
  • Transfer station officials are urging residents to sign up for curbside garbage pick-up offered by the hauling company in their area. Garbage service is available to every home in Lewis County.

Lewis County operates two transfer stations for garbage disposal and recycling drop-off, the one on Tower Avenue in Centralia and another near Morton. Anyone with questions may call 360-740-1451 or email swu@lewiscountywa.gov.

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 5:45 AM.

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