News · Houghton
Houghton County’s transfer station is down to one truck driver as new fees take effect, and contractors want refunds
HOUGHTON, Mich. — Houghton County’s solid-waste transfer station in Atlantic Mine is running with one commercial truck driver, and the shortage is showing up at the gate.
Contractors complained that the station could not take their construction and demolition loads through a Wednesday earlier this month, Commissioner Joel Keranen said at the board’s Oct. 5 work session, The Mining Gazette reported. “We’re not serving our constituents,” Keranen said. “If we can’t turn this around, we can’t do it right, then we need to get out of this business immediately and let someone do it who can do it.”
Without enough drivers, processed debris can’t be hauled to the landfill. “Currently, we’re running with one driver for the past two weeks,” Materials Management Facility Manager Jeffrey Palik told the Gazette.
New prices. The closure came as scheduled increases took effect Oct. 1, under a 2024 state-mandated deficit elimination plan and a 2025 county resolution that calls for 7.5% increases each October through 2029. Drop-offs for cars and pickups are now a flat $20, and vehicles with trailers pay $30, up from $15 and $25. A new construction-and-demolition surcharge runs from $5 for a car to $20 for a commercial dump truck, and punch cards are gone.
Pay and refunds. Work session minutes say the Road Commission pays its CDL drivers $25 to $28 an hour and the transfer station’s drivers make less. Keranen asked that they be paid the same. Anderson asked for a vote on reimbursing contractors who were turned away and then paid the higher rates, and the Oct. 13 agenda listed both the refund and CDL driver pay. The Gazette had not reported the outcome as of Tuesday.
The Western U.P. Planning and Development Region is analyzing the station and hopes to present findings, including expansion costs, in November, the minutes say. WUPPDR is also arranging CDL training, and one current employee will attend.
Sources:
The Mining Gazette, “Transfer station discussed,” Oct. 2026 (closure, Keranen, Anderson, Bingham quotes), https://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2026/10/transfer-station-issues/
The Mining Gazette, “Going up!,” Oct. 2026 (fee schedule, deficit plan, Palik quote), https://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2026/10/going-up-5/
Houghton County Board of Commissioners, Oct. 5, 2026 work session minutes (pay comparison, WUPPDR review, training), https://www.houghtoncounty.net/minutes/minutes_486.pdf
Houghton County Board of Commissioners, Oct. 13, 2026 agenda, https://www.houghtoncounty.net/minutes/agenda_471.pdf
Photo: Boomer77, “Roll-Off.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roll-Off.jpg
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