BILLINGS— Billings neighbors are demanding a permanent solution to trash blown out of the Billings Regional Landfill, which they say has been a problem for decades.
Wind gusts will blow loose trash onto surrounding fences and fields, particularly on roads such as Hillcrest Road and Stratton Road.
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Nearby resident Joel Guthals said he has been fighting for a solution.
“It's a crime to litter… and we have the biggest littering operation in the state of Montana, just doing it all the time,” he said.
Guthals and several other neighbors filed litigation against the City of Billings and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in 2022.
The city built a transfer facility in 2019 to compact trash in response to the complaints, but Guthals said the problem persisted.
“We have met with various officials of the city over the years… (but) none of it seems to have made a lasting difference,” said Guthals.
“The first thing that I would like to see is for the city or a committee of the city or the city council to schedule a meeting and invite neighbors to come to the meeting to discuss this problem,” he added.
Guthals said city crews will clean up the area after wind blows the trash, but it can take days or weeks.
“We're talking lots and lots of trash over acres and acres of land,” said Guthals.
Other neighbors, such as Russ Hall, have noticed the problem get worse in recent years.
“It's always happened when there's been a windstorm, but it definitely seems to have gotten worse in the last five years or so,” said Hall.
“There's a big field out there that it blows into. You can see it go for half a mile or more, and the fences themselves just are covered in it,” he added.
The city is back to considering solutions.
“We're currently exploring a bunch of mitigating factors such as more new and improved wind screens, probably taller fences,” said Bret Moore, City of Billings solid waste superintendent.
Moore also advises residents to bag and tie their trash before they throw it away.
“Blue Creek and the landfill area is definitely our biggest complaint area, and that's where the lack of bagging, tying and binning shows its ugly head so to speak,” said Moore.
The city is partnering with Billings nonprofit Bright n’ Beautiful to clean up the area near the landfill on April 25. For more details, click here.
