It wasn’t long ago that the landfill serving Alpena, Montmorency, and Oscoda counties was deep in the red, staring at a $1.6 million deficit and having to go hat-in-hand to local contractors to do the work it needed to do.

Today, as News staff writer Steve Schulwitz reported recently, the landfill is well in the black, paying dividends to the counties it serves and funding important investments with cash.

The landfill also has taken the initiative to test its property for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, before the state requires it.

“We were in terrible trouble, and we got to the point we had to borrow money from one of our contractors just to have a cell built,” Montmorency County Commissioner Bert LaFleche, who serves on the landfill board, said, referring to the massive storage areas for trash. “Now, business has picked up, everything is going good, and we’re healthy.”

Much credit goes to LaFleche and his fellow board members for making smart investments that saved the landfill money over the long term and brought in more refuse, for which the landfill is paid by the cubic yard or the ton.

The landfill’s solid financial footing is important, because it soon will need to expand. Thanks to the hard work of its leadership, the landfill is well-positioned to do so.

We’re glad to see it.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)