Ben Langford, a native Oregonian who lives in Oak Grove, is a busy man. Although he retired following a 28-year career as a paper maker at the Oregon City mill – he hired a limo to drive him home after his last shift – his days are filled with small general contracting jobs and repair projects.
Catching up with him one recent morning as he prepared to dump a pick-up load of old wood trim, sheet rock and a little metal flashing at Metro South transfer station, Langford’s friendly demeanor, easy smile and straight-forward, shoot-from-the-hip style make him a natural for a construction-related reality television show. In fact, he’s a big fan and looks like he could be the father of Mike Holmes, the celebrity contractor featured in the once highest-rated show on the Canadian HGTV and author of several do-it-yourself books.
Langford has been a customer at Metro South for 30 years. "I’ve been coming here since it opened. I remember when it was going to be a burner," he said referring to original plans that envisioned Metro South as a mass burn facility. "We were all excited about that, but it never got built. We would have used the energy from the burner for our mill operations."
Metro South, the regional garbage transfer facility in Oregon City, commemorates its 30th anniversary this year. Langford is one of 212,300 customers served by Metro scale house and Allied Waste Transfer Service employees in the past year alone. The station is especially popular with residential and small-business operators like Langford. They make up 70 percent of the business there and take advantage of source-separated areas set up in several slat-floor buildings at the 11-acre site.
Metro South also features a household hazardous waste facility where paints, solvents and other chemicals are collected and handled safely. More than 9 million tons of solid waste, recyclable materials and organics have been received at South since it opened – nearly 240,000 tons in 2012 alone.
Serving both public and private sector needs, South offers customers like Langford an affordable option for managing their waste and recyclables close to home. "I came here instead of spending $400 on a drop box and because it’s next to Home Depot," explained Langford with a grin. "I’ll empty my trailer and go fill it up with new stuff from there. I’ve never had any problems here and never had to wait long in line to take care of business."