PORTLAND, Ore. — Metro transfer facilities have been piling up with trash.
The closures last week on Interstate 84 caused more than trash to back up. On a typical day, Metro officials say 50-60 trucks take the trash from their two transfer stations out to a landfill in eastern Oregon.
"We have a couple of landfills on the west side of the mountains that we use as backups in emergency situations and we were able to move a few trucks to those facilities," Metro spokesman Ken Ray said. "But those landfills aren't as large as the one in Arlington."
To help make the piles of trash disappear, Ray said Metro has a simple request.
"We were significantly limited in what we could move out of these facilities and because we're trying to catch up to the additional garbage we've accumulated in our transfer station, we're asking our self-haul customers, those who are cleaning out their basements, garages, attics, to wait if they can until March 1."
If you do need to make a run to the dump, officials warn you could see longer wait times than normal.
"We're glad the customers want to come here, we know they don't want to spend all day at the transfer station, so we want to get them in and out as quickly and efficiently as we can," Ray said.