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Residents Turn To Eagle County For Help With Basalt Recycling Center

Creativity103 via Creative Commons

A recycling center in Basalt is set to close at the start of 2020 after Pitkin County decided to stop funding it, and residents are now turning to Eagle County in hopes of a solution.

Eagle County manager Jeff Shroll was in El Jebel on Friday as part of Eagle County’s “Roaring Fork Fridays,” an effort to hear from its constituents in the valley. Between emails and in-person meetings, Shroll said he has heard from about two dozen concerned residents.

 

“Most of them don’t have access to the curbside," Shroll said. "They don’t want to see that stuff going to the various landfills, and it’s just an important service to keep open.”

 

Shroll added that he has been in contact with Basalt and Pitkin County governments to discuss potential solutions. 

On Tuesday, Basalt Town Council will discuss what they would do with their half of the recycling center funding if the facility were to close. They will wait to make a decision until they hear whether Eagle County will contribute $30,000 to keep the center open. 

 

Alex is KUNC's reporter covering the Colorado River Basin. He spent two years at Aspen Public Radio, mainly reporting on the resort economy, the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, he covered the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery for KDLG in Dillingham, Alaska.