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Hernando is suing recycler to collect $21,000 payment
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- Hernando County attorneys have filed suit against a Lecanto recycling company, asking for more than $21,000. Fred Wagner, an assistant county attorney, said the county's Utilities Department gave Inter-County Recycling four loads of aluminum in 1998 and, despite repeated requests for payment, the company has not written a check for the materials, worth an estimated $21,361.70. Michael Paglia, president of Inter-County Recycling, said on Monday that the aluminum provided by Hernando County was contaminated -- full of glass fragments and syringes -- and not acceptable. "It was a mess," Paglia said. "I called them for months. They're lucky I didn't charge them." Wagner said that he has found no correspondence from the company disputing the bill, and said he had heard nothing about contaminated materials. He said Hernando County provided two loads of aluminum in November 1998: 15,740 pounds worth $3,131.20. The county offered two loads of aluminum cans in December that year: 38,380 pounds worth $18,230.50, according to court records. Wagner said he recently has been working through a stack of unpaid bills and trying to get payment for the county. Paglia said he had called county utilities employees repeatedly and told them the cans were unacceptable for processing. He said he had asked that they either clean or retrieve the materials. Paglia said county employees eventually told him to dispose of the materials. He said his staff ripped apart the cans, cleaned out the trash and sent them to a mill. He said the money they made almost covered labor costs, but he believes Inter-County Recycling came out $200 to $300 short. "We'll discuss it all when we get to court," Wagner said. -- Jamie Jones covers law enforcement and courts in Hernando County and can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
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