National Garbage Disposal Service May Enter Broadwater County
Author: Harley Robertson, Reporter for The Moniter
Harley Robertson
Reporter for The Monitor
(Editor’s note: Several Broadwater County residents use TriCounty Disposal, a private garbage service. County Public Works Director TJ Graveley reminded those residents that even if they have a private garbage hauling service, they must pay the county garbage assessment. Tri County picks up the garbage then hauls it to the county’s transfer station on Indian Creek Road. Garbage from the transfer station is then hauled by Broadwater County. MT43News reached out to Tri County Disposal for comment but did not hear back.)
The garbage collection industry in the Helena area, including Jefferson County, could face the prospect of competitive tumult in the face of an acquisition awaiting approval by the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC).
Republic Services, the nation’s second-largest waste disposal company, has applied to take over Tri-County Disposal, which operates a landfill in East Helena and is authorized to operate within a 35-mile radius of Helena’s city limits. Republic says it hopes to receive certification from the PSC by Aug. 1.
In theory, that would put it head-to-head against Boulder-based Giulio Disposal, which is authorized to haul trash anywhere in Jefferson County. Under Tri-County, competition hasn’t been an issue — in large part, Giulio says, because his father Gordon made a “handshake agreement” years ago that effectively ceded Tri-County a monopoly on the county’s northern communities while leaving Boulder to Giulio.
It’s not clear whether that arrangement will survive Tri-County’s acquisition. A Republic spokesman told The Monitor the company would continue to “support reliable, uninterrupted service to the Greater Helena area,” but did not say whether it planned to expand into Boulder.
“Republic should be worried about me,” Giulio said. “We’re really reasonably priced for our service and Republic is not going to come here and haul garbage for twenty bucks a month,” Giulio said he is considering expanding his hauling enterprise to serve homes and businesses in Jefferson City and Montana City.
Meanwhile, other hauling companies are concerned that, with the acquisition, they could lose access to Tri-County’s East Helena landfill, where refuse from multiple counties, including Jefferson, ends up.
L&L Site Services – which provides disposal services that compete with Republic in Gallatin, Madison, and Missoula counties – filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint against Republic Services in 2023 for “monopolistic behavior and retaliation,” according to MT43 News.
L&L’s Missoula disposal service, Grizzy Disposal, claims Republic barred it from dumping in Republic’s Missoula landfill, forcing it to transport garbage to East Helena and increasing its costs by 20% to 30%. Grizzly worries that Republic soon could bar it from that landfill, as well.
“I really think they only made this move to purchase Tri-County and the landfill to progress their resistance to us doing business in Missoula,” said Grizzly’s General Manager, Billy Fisher. He said he has already started looking for other places to haul Grizzly’s trash in preparation for being barred from the East Helena site landfill.
Republic, however, told The Monitor that other companies’ access to the site would not be limited. “Republic Services looks forward to operating a landfill that will remain open to customers, including the Jefferson County Solid Waste Division and Grizzly Disposal,” a spokesperson said.
What will happen to prices if Republic’s acquisition is approved? Grizzly says that when it entered the Missoula market in 2022, Republic reduced its prices to $65 per quarter to undercut Grizzly. In other areas, Republic’s prices appear to vary: In Great Falls, under a contract with the city government, it charges $52.57 per quarter for residential service. Fisher claims Lake County residents – whose only option is Republic – pay around $150 per quarter for their services. Giulio charges $20 per month.
The PSC is in the process of reviewing Tri-County’s application to transfer its Intrastate Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Republic, which would allow the company to take over Tri-County’s services.
It received no protests to the transferring of Tri County’s certification to Republic by the July 21 deadline. “At this point, we do not know what, if any, factors could potentially prevent Republic from receiving the Class D authority,” PSC Executive Director Alana Lake told The Monitor.
