Thousands of Green Country Residents Without Trash Service

The loss of their trash pick-up service is causing a big headache for thousands of people in Green Country. One of the biggest trash haulers in northeastern Oklahoma has a sign in his business that says his company is closed.

The trash service goes under the name Oklahoma Trash Control or O-T-C, as well as the name Tri-Star Refuse. Thousands of residents, businesses, and clinics use the trash service. Now the trash is piling up.

Garbage is overflowing its dumpsters, and it is also piling up on the streets. The trash in a Claremore neighborhood was supposed to be picked up last Friday. "I'm kind of afraid to go near it,” said resident Myra Wood. “With this heat it might explode."

It took three days for the Jiffy Mart in Chelsea to find someone to haul away their trash. "We have three dumpsters out there, and it was piled up, all over the ground,” said Clayton Hobbs, one of O-T-C's former customers. “We had to go through a bunch of word of mouth to get someone to haul it away."

While investigating this story, News on Six reporter Donn Robertson found some of the parked O-T-C trucks still full of garbage. Area haulers say O-T-C has more than 10,000 customers in northeastern Oklahoma, in an area that includes from Claremore to Vinita, Locust Grove, Catoosa, Oologah and Chelsea.

The company’s owner recently signed a two-year contract with the city of Chelsea to pick up their trash. O-T-C currently has the first building presently being built in Chelsea's industrial park.

The O-T-C’s owner did call the Chelsea City Hall Monday morning. "In a very quick conversation, he said he is done picking up trash,” said Chelsea town administrator, Don Cochran. “So, the city council called an emergency meeting and they hired a new hauler temporarily. It came as a real surprise to everybody."

Cochran says the owner came in to see him last week, asking the city to lend a hand. “He came in last Tuesday and said he was about five or six drivers short, and wanted to know if the city could help."

Wood is out nearly $100 she paid O-T-C in advance. She doesn't care about the cash, as long as someone picks up her trash. "I just hope that I can find someone that will come by on a regular basis and pick-up,” she said “But it's not looking good at this point."

Other trash disposal companies are trying to pick up the slack, but nobody knows if they can handle the entire load. The Better Business Bureau in Tulsa says O-T-C has a satisfactory record. The News on Six also contacted two regional bankruptcy courts. As of this Monday afternoon, they did not have any record of O-T-C's owner filing for bankruptcy.

As we have mentioned in our broadcasts, here’s a list of trash haulers who are willing to pick up your trash. KOTV does not endorse any of the following companies, and we encourage you to check them out before contracting their services.