Somebody's Gotta Do It: Wichita Falls Transfer Station

YOU ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOUR ROLLOUT IS ON THE CURB ON TRASH DAY.
 OR YOU PITCH SACKS IN THE ALLEY DUMPSTER AT YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS, BUT DO YOU EVER GIVE A SECOND THOUGHT TO WHERE YOUR TRASH GOES FROM THERE?
 TO FIND OUT PHOTOJOURNALIST JAKE VANDONGE AND I MET "BO"AND IN  THIS EPISODE OF  "SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT"  SERIES WE TAG ALONG WITH HIM TO LEARN WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR THE TRANSFER STATION CREW ON A TYPICAL TRASH DAY.
 HUNDREDS OF WICHITA FALLS EMPLOYEES REPORT TO WORK EACH DAY  READY TO GET THE JOB DONE.
 MANY OF THOSE JOBS ARE ONES MANY PEOPLE WOULD NOT WANT TO DO OR EVEN THINK ABOUT BUT SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT!
 SO WE HIT THE ROAD WITH THESE UNSUNG CITY HEROES TO FIND OUT HOW THESE FOLKS MAKE OUR WAY OF LIFE POSSIBLE.
 Derrek "Bo" Beaumont says, "As he loads the trash it will pack it and when it comes in here he opens the door and it is one big ejector, it just pushes it out the back."

 IT LANDS AT THE WICHITA FALLS TRANSFER STATION ON LAWRENCE ROAD.
 IN THIS LINE OF WORK THERE'S NEVER TIME TO SIT AROUND AND TALK TRASH, OTHERWISE THE PILES WOULD SOON TAKE OVER THE WORK SPACE.

 Beaumont: "People just don't realize the volume of trash, rubbish that gets thrown out these days."

 EACH DAY, LOAD BY LOAD, ABOUT 400 TONS OF TRASH MOVE THROUGH THE TRANSFER STATION.

 Beaumont: "The crew out here is excellent, you couldn't ask for really a better crew to work with, because we have to rely on each other."

 BO SAYS BY RELYING ON EACH OTHER THIS SMALL CITY CREW IS ABLE TO GET THE JOB DONE AND JUST LIKE ANY LINE OF WORK AT TIMES, IT HAS ITS DRAWBACKS.

 Beaumont: "The stench, the smell.  When the loader is operating you never know what he is going to run over, we've had people get sprayed with different things, oil containers, a jug that might of had a jar of mayonnaise, things like that you got to look out for."

 SO WHETHER IT'S DUMPED, TOSSED OR SWEPT INTO THE TRANSFER STATION, EVERY NEW LOAD CAN BRING IN NEW SURPRISES.
 LIVE AMMUNITION EVEN CAME THROUGH ON A LOAD.
  SO YOU CAN SEE WHY ITS KEY THIS CREW PAYS CLOSE ATTENTION  TO THE GARBAGE AS THEY WORK THE PILES, THINGS LIKE TIRES HAVE TO BE PULLED AND SLICED UP.
 THEY CAN'T BE SENT TO THE LANDFILL WHOLE.
 THIS TIRE CUTTER IS A VALUABLE TOOL.
 THE CREW ALSO WORKS TO ENSURE NOTHING GOES OUT AS TRASH, THAT CAN BE TURNED INTO CASH.
 LAST YEAR THEIR EFFORTS PAID OFF WHEN THE DEPARTMENT MADE NEARLY 70-THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM RECYLCING.
 
 Beaumont: "We have bins over there that we fill up and then they come and dump for us.  We look at cutting cords, we look to find aluminum cans and set everything aside to recylce everything we possibly can in and around the operation of trying to get the trash out of here on a daily basis."

 A TASK THAT KEEPS THIS SMALL TEAM VERY BUSY.
 ONCE ALL THE TRASH HITS THE PIT THE CRANE ROLLS IN TO COMPACT THE TRASH IN THE BACK OF BO'S TRAILER BELOW.
 THE CITY SEMIS EACH MAKE ABOUT FIVE TRIPS A DAY FROM THE  TRANSFER STATION TO THE LANDFILL.
 ONCE BO'S TRUCK IS LOADED HE HEADS FOR THE LANDFILL ABOUT 11 MILES AWAY...
 IF BO COULD CONVERT ALL HIS MILES BACK AND FORTH HAULING TRASH OVER THE LAST 18 YEARS, HE COULD TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD MANY TIMES OVER.
 FIRST STOP, THE SCALE.
 IT'S DRIVERS' RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT TIPPING THE SCALES TOO MUCH.
  THERE IS A MAXIMUM LOAD OF 80-THOUSAND POUNDS AND THAT INCLUDES THE  TRUCK.
  THEN IT'S TIME TO BACK THE LOAD IN.
  BO HITS THE GROUND AT THE LANDFILL STILL WITH  PEP IN HIS STEP.
 AFTER ALL, HE'S GOT A LOAD THAT NEEDS TO BE DUMPED.
 THEN IT'S TIME TO ADD ANOTHER 11 MILES TO THE TRASH WORLD TRAVELOR'S LOG,BACK TO THE TRANSFER STATION WHERE THE WHOLE CYCLE STARTS AGAIN.