The tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fremont County will start hauling their waste to a Casper landfill soon. Fremont County has been transporting the reservation's waste to nearby landfills, but an agreement signed between the tribes and the county last summer transferred those duties to the tribes. Executive Director of the Wind River Environmental Quality Commission, Ryan Ortiz says the hold-up has been getting a truck, which is now scheduled to arrive in April.
“The intent has always been to operate those transfer station entirely. However, it’s taken a few months to get our equipment manufactured and get everything shored up,” Ortiz says.
Ortiz says the tribes have decided to haul their waste all the way to Casper because the landfill there charges less per ton than local Fremont County dumps. He says Fremont County’s landfill charges $80 per ton and Casper’s costs $35 per ton.
Right now, the county pays the tribes $250,000 per year to dispose of the waste. That contract is in effect for another 2.5 years, and then tribes and the county will have to negotiate another agreement.
