MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Commissioners took a tour of the Rumpke-Ohio Valley recycling facility near Ironton in Lawrence County on Thursday to get a close-up look at the plant’s operations. This plant serves operations in southern Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Rumpke has expressed an interest in a new regional type recycling facility at Mount Vernon to serve Knox, Richland and Licking counties.
The proposed facility would handle trash, recycling and sorting operations, according to Commissioner Allen Stockberger. They would load recyclables and send them to a facility in Columbus for further recycling. Trash would also be transported to a Richland County plant near Mansfield.
“We have not reached any agreement,” said Stockberger. “We have talked with three interested parties who have had proposals to operate a recycling facility in Knox County. There is no timetable for making a decision, but we hope to have some tentative plan in place by the end of the year.”
The commissioners will need to do some advertising for any proposals. They will also be discussing options with representatives from the Delaware-Knox-Marion-Morrow Solid Waste District.
The commissioners also announced they have received resumes for filling the position of superintendent of the water and wastewater department. They will be selecting candidates for interviews on Monday. If needed, more interviews may follow.
