Due to the inability of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad to provide intermodal shipping containers, which are used to ship solid waste by rail to the regional landfill, Island County solid waste transfer stations exceeded storage capacities, and were temporarily closed to residential and commercial self-haulers on Sunday, June 26.

Residential curbside collection services and transfer station recycling operations remained open. Burlington Northern has indicated that the container shortage is the result of staffing and related supply chain issues, and that they are working to resolve the issues.

In anticipation of shipping containers becoming available, Island County transfer stations will reopen on Tuesday, June 28. Excess stockpiled refuse will be removed, and normal collection and disposal services will be resumed.

Until such time that Burlington Northern can resolve the container shortage issue, it is possible that temporary closures may reoccur. The impacts have been regional, with other counties also experiencing temporary closures. Due to the day-to-day uncertainties of container availability, with the transfer stations operating near full capacity, it is recommended that the county Solid Waste Division web page be checked for current status and open hours.

Transfer station current status, open hours and other information can be viewed on the Solid Waste website.

In the event that a temporary closure may reoccur, every effort will be made to provide as much advance notice as possible, and to quickly reopen. If this occurs, place garbage bags in securely closed containers to minimize vector attraction and nuisance odors, and check the above web page for reopening alerts.