Noxious Weed & Landfill

The Weed Department and Landfill Building Exterior

Noxious Weeds

The department searches for and eradicates low acreage noxious weeds (musk thistle, Canada thistle, hoary cress, Quackgrass, Russian knapweed and leafy spurge) on all county-maintained roadways and KDOT roadways, to avoid widespread and economically disastrous infestations.

Noxious weeds, particularly bindweed, Johnson grass bur-ragweed and Musk Thistle, destroy thousands of acres of crops in Morton County every year. Herbicide control on these acres results in an average of more than three dollars return in increased yield for every one dollar spent. In many cases, the returns are much higher. Non-control results in the rapid growth of infestations and robs even more crops of moisture and nutrients. It is always cheaper to control noxious weeds than to let them grow in cropland.

The department also offers prairie dog baiting from Oct. 15th – March 15th. Pricing varies depending on the price of bait, which can also be purchased separately with proof of an applicators license. (Prairie Dog bait is a restricted use pesticide) For additional information concerning Prairie Dog bait/baiting please contact the Noxious Weed Dept. 

General Notice to Control Noxious Weeds

Failure to observe this notice may result in the following:

  1. Serving a legal notice requiring control of the noxious weeds within a minimum of five days.  Failure to control the weeds within the time period allowed may result in the county treating the noxious weeds at the landowner's expense and placing a lien on the property if the bill is not paid within 30 days or,
  2. Filing criminal charges for non-compliance. A conviction for non-compliance may result in a fine of $100 per day of non-compliance with a maximum fine of $1500.

The public is also hereby notified that it is a violation of the Kansas Noxious Weed Law to barter, sell or give away infested nursery stock or livestock feed unless the feed is fed on the farm where grown or sold to a commercial processor that will destroy the viability of the noxious weed seed. Custom harvesting machines must be labelled with a label provided by the Kansas Department of Agriculture and must be free of all weed seed and litter when entering the State and when leaving a field infested with noxious weeds. Additional information may be obtained from the Morton County Noxious Weed Department or by contacting:

Kansas Department of Agriculture
 109 SW 9th
 Topeka, KS 66612

 

 

Landfill 

The Landfill sits on approximately 443 acres on county road 16, ½ mile south of Highway 56. Landfill operators are responsible for handling an average of 14 tons of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) and C&D (Construction and Demolition) daily. All waste disposal and landfill operations are strictly regulated by the Bureau of Waste Management (KDHE-BWM).

 

The landfill is classified by BWM as a Small Arid Landfill, this classification comes as a result of low average rainfall, and a daily average tonnage of less than 20 tons. Because of this classification, Morton county is not allowed to accept any liquid waste, or Hazardous waste.

 

Currently, Morton county accepts waste from within the county, along with waste from Oklahoma, and Colorado. All waste generated within the county is accepted at no charge, while all out of county waste is assessed a tipping fee of $40/ton. 

 

The Landfill requires all waste to be separated into different areas. Concrete, metal and brush are to be placed in the appropriate areas by the person bringing it into the landfill. Metal and cement are recycled, and all brush is burned when the weather is permitting. The Brush area is heavily regulated by the state, and randomly inspected by The Department of Air Quality. The only waste allowed to be placed in the brush pile is tree and brush waste, all lumber, pallets and trash are to be disposed of in the general trash pit. 

 

Waste tires are accepted at the Landfill, for a fee, and a price list for waste tire disposal can be picked up at the landfill office. The BWM does not allow tires to be buried, currently Morton county has all tires hauled away by Resource Management out of Brownell, KS. And all fees are in place to cover the cost. 

 

Load Requirements

As we come to the busy time of the year and citizens are cleaning their yards and outbuildings in preparation for the summer, there are a few things that we would like to address concerning loads of waste being brought to the Morton County Landfill.

  • All loads must be covered with a tarp or secured with straps or rope to prevent any of the waste from being lost on the road to the Landfill. If you have a loose load, please take the time to place it in plastic bags and secure it so that it isn't lost out on the roads.
  • All loose loads (loads that may blow away from the pit area, i.e. small plastic bags, paper, feed bags, etc.) must also be placed in trash bags.  
  • There is a strict no smoking policy on Landfill property. Once you have entered the gate please extinguish all lit cigarettes or cigars properly! The fire danger is very high and we will be taking the necessary precautions to eliminate the possibility of fires inside our facility