Rechargeable batteries and pressurized gas tanks erroneously placed in the trash or recycling for regular curbside pickups have been wreaking potentially dangerous havoc on Fairfax County’s waste management operations.
Just last week, some trash collection workers were injured when a compacted gas container exploded, according to the county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES).
Nearly a decade ago, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity backed an effort to eliminate glass from Fairfax County’s single-stream recycling program.
Herrity now thinks the time is right to reconsider the decision.
The Fairfax County government is seeking ideas from the public and business community on modernizing its trash and recycling facilities and processes.
The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) on Aug. 4 put out a formal request for expressions of interest — known as an RFEI — to gather input that could be used in future planning. The request is not an official bid, according to the county.
At least one Fairfax County supervisor isn’t giving up on a push for bringing all residential trash collection under the purview of the county government.
“I hope we can look at it again. I want to have the conversation we never really had,” Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said at a July 7 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Environmental Committee.
Hazardous air quality levels due to wildfire smoke have been reported in the D.C. region, prompting cancellations of outdoor activities across Fairfax County.
Early this morning (Friday), the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) issued a Code Purple Air Quality Advisory for the region after conditions considered “very unhealthy” for everyone were recorded in D.C., Northern Virginia and parts of suburban Maryland by 9 a.m.
Fairfax County supervisors have taken a step to ease the burden of Burke-area families impacted by last month’s microburst.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday (Tuesday) to waive costs for homeowners depositing debris at the I-66 Transfer Station or I-95 Landfill through July 29.
Fairfax officials acknowledge they have no easy solutions to offset rising costs of operating the local government’s trash collection facilities.
Fairfax property owners might need to pay for future funding shortfalls — a possibility that may be equally unwelcome to county supervisors as they prepare for an election year in 2027.
Potentially record-breaking heat is expected to take hold of the D.C. area, as the nation’s 250th anniversary nears.
A Heat Advisory issued by the National Weather Service is scheduled to take effect from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today (Wednesday), followed by an Extreme Heat Watch that will be in place from 11 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) until 8 p.m. on Friday, July 3.
The Fairfax City Council recently approved an updated waste management plan that it says is needed due to projections that landfills across Virginia may reach capacity in less than 20 years, a rising population, and soaring costs for disposing of municipal waste.
Council members unanimously voted May 12 to accept the 87-page plan with 54 actions planned across two decades. The plan emphasizes developing effective government systems; education and outreach to city residents; reducing waste overall and emphasizing reuse; increasing the amount and quality of items recycled; and resource recovery for food and yard waste.
Fairfax County supervisors have reacted tepidly to a staff proposal for imposing what might be termed a “trash tax” on Fairfax’s property owners to support solid waste disposal.
“I don’t think we’re ready. It’s kind of a hard sell,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in response to the proposal, floated at the May 12 meeting of the board’s Environment Committee.
