Until the Flakes read today's article in the Billings Gazette, they had no idea how much power the Yellowstone County Dump wields.  It is among the most influential organizations in the area. Just to give you an example of how powerful they are, they actually call it a landfill instead of a dump.

Amazingly, their list of rules and regulations is even longer than the lines have been since this summer's hailstorm. They can write you a ticket if your load isn't secure (seriously, that's why were taking it to the dump) or if you exceed their weight limit (again, that's why were at the dump).

And they've been busy.  According to the Gazette article, nearly 19,000 vehicles visited the landfill in June alone.  The lines have gotten so long, they're now thinking about adding a second scale and widening the road.

Of course, just like Billings is a regional hub for shoppers from rural parts of Montana, northern Wyoming and western South Dakota, people come from far and wide to dump their trash here too.  Residents from four neighboring counties are allowed to use our landfill.

Which gave Paul a great idea.  If we ever run out of space for our landfill, we could always turn Musselshell county into a giant statewide dump.  Or we could take a page from several other places who have turned their landfills into money makers.  Communities all over the country are now using conveyors that sort and separate solid waste in order to produce energy, convert to compost and collect recyclable materials.  It's costly to implement, but trash is becoming a big business. One city's trash could be another city's treasure.

 

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