News briefs

County will start charging to dump wood

SAN BERNARDINO “”mdash; The county lost $4 million on its wood-
burning venture.

The county invested about $1 million in the Burnt Flats Wood
Waste Processing Facility last year after the Heaps Peak Transfer
Station, a dump site near Running Springs, filled up with trees
that had been infested with bark beetles.

“˜”˜At the time, it seemed like a no-brainer because
of the overwhelming amount of wood and associated debris. At this
point, it’s costing the county more money to keep and
maintain the facility than is called for,” said Brad
Mitzelfelt, spokesman for Supervisor Bill Postmus.

Briefs compiled from reports from Bruin wire
services.