Garbage Disposals Grind to a Halt in Raleigh NC

Garbage disposals, you've been warned: You've got 10 years then get out of town, according to the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh's serious too, violators will be fined a whopping $25,000 a day.

The culprit is grease and the State Division of Water Quality, according to Dale Crisp, Raleigh's public utilities director. The Division claims Raleigh had five overflows due to the slimy substance even though the total overflow numbers for the year was fifty which meant grease accounted for only 10%.

The measure was quietly put on the Raleigh City Council agenda Tuesday and the vote was unanimous with "little discussion." The measure affects homes and businesses. Cal Mason, a senior remodeling specialist with Raleigh-based Distinctive Remodeling wondered if the "garbage disposal police were going to be checking on us".

Denver and Indianapolis require new dwellings have disposals while some counties will not allow homeowners on septic systems to hook up one.

Limiting garbage disposal use may not be such a bad idea. According to Grinning Planet disposals add to the problem of "nutrient pollution":

It's true that putting the food waste in the trash will shift the burden to the local landfill instead of your sewage treatment system, but landfills are causing us far fewer problems today than sewage treatment systems. The latter are a main source of "nutrient pollution"—one of the main causes of coastal dead zone in estuaries, gulfs, and bays. Adding your nutrient-rich food waste to the sewage stream only makes the problem worse.

The ban on disposals doesn't go into effect for ten more years giving residents time to save up the $25,000 per day fine if they get busted by Garbage Disposal Police.

What makes us wonder, what happens if someone is levied a $25,000 per day fine and can't pay it? Does that person eventually wind up in jail? Since we don't live in Raleigh, we'll let those who live there ponder the answer.

By LBG

Image - Disposal
Source - The Charlotte Observer


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