Wicomico County Landfill open Saturdays for Commercial Haulers

SALISBURY, Md. — The Wicomico County landfill has seen significant back-and-forth in recent months. City officials said they are no longer moving forward with a proposal to close the landfill to commercial haulers on Saturdays.

Wicomico County Council President John T. Cannon said, “We anticipate that the landfill will most certainly be open tomorrow, without a doubt. We just got an email this morning around 8 a.m. saying that the landfill will not be closed on Saturday.”

Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano said, “We had talked about implementing a game plan around August. And right now, we’ve actually seen — I think by bringing this issue to the community and the public — we are seeing a decrease in trash, which is really good.”

The next step for the landfill will be Tuesday’s legislative session, where officials plan to discuss three key topics: penalties, council authority and a ban on out-of-county trash.

“The purpose of the legislative bill is so that the threat to close the landfill can no longer exist without proper vetting through the public and through the County Council,” Cannon said.

“When it comes to the landfill operation, that is an executive function,” Giordano said. “So I think there is going to be some discussion about council oversight and things like that. We really need to make sure that the oversight stays with the executive office and within the landfill and the landfill supervisor.”

Cannon expressed concern that any closure of the landfill could compromise services for residents. However, both he and Giordano agreed that out-of-county trash should not be permitted and that penalties may help enforce that rule.

“I think that this provision will be enough, and hopefully it goes smoothly on Tuesday,” Giordano said. “Once that’s in place, we still have 60 days because it is a legislative bill.”

Cannon said the penalty phases are scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, 2025.

There are four levels of penalties for violations involving out-of-county trash. Upon a fourth violation, commercial haulers will be prohibited from using the landfill.

“The legislative bill that’s going to be proposed on Tuesday will certainly be amended to show that the first violation involving out-of-county trash would automatically place that organization on a one-year probation,” Cannon said. “If there’s a second violation within that year, there’s going to be a $2,500 fine. A third violation will result in a $5,000 fine and a three-day suspension. If there’s a fourth violation within that same year, the hauler will be prohibited from using the landfill whatsoever.”

Giordano added that a phased approach to limiting landfill access for commercial haulers is on the back burner — but not completely off the table.