Commissioners approve sites for placement of recycling bins

Work on the Ewing Park Bridge will begin Monday.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- By month's end, drop-off recycling bins will be in just about all corners of Lawrence County.
The county commissioners approved four more sites for the program at their Tuesday session. The sites are Giant Eagle on Butler Avenue in Shenango Township and the municipal buildings in Plain Grove, Slippery Rock and Wayne townships.
Amy Labi-Carando, director of recycling and solid waste, said the county expects to establish three more sites, including one at the county courthouse, before the recycling division runs out of bins.
Blue bins that accept cardboard, paper, aluminum and plastics are already in place at the Wal-Mart in Union Township and Pulaski, Hickory, Scott, North Beaver and Perry townships and Enon Valley and Wampum boroughs.
The program is funded through a state grant and is intended to give all county residents access to recycling. Curbside recycling is available only to communities with 5,000 or more residents. Most communities without curbside recycling do offer a once-a-month drop-off recycling day.
Bridge work
In other business, work on the new Ewing Park Bridge on Sims Street in Ellwood City is set to begin Monday.
Commissioner Ed Fosnaught said the bridge will close at 7 a.m., and a ceremonial groundbreaking with commissioners and other public officials will be held at 8 a.m. on the Pa. Route 488 side of the span.
Commissioners awarded the $6.8 million bridge construction project to Mekis Construction of Fenelton, Pa.
The span is expected to be closed for about two years.
The county will receive full reimbursement for the new bridge costs from the state and federal government. The total project is expected to cost $9.6 million.
cioffi@vindy.com