Three commercial trash haulers in Pearl River County had their permits pulled after repeatedly failing to follow county ordinances.

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors approved pulling the three permits during Wednesday’s regular meeting. The haulers are Kelly Scott Burks who owns Smelly Kelly’s, Michael Price who owns Adequate Garbage Pickup and Herbert Billiot Jr. who owns Buddy’s.

County litter officer Jason Lee came before the Board to ask them to enforce the county ordinance by pulling the three permits. Lee said that there are approximately 20 companies who offer commercial hauling in the area, and the majority do not cause issues. But the three companies in question consistently fail to abide by county rules, like not showing up to get their permit, not using tarps or dumping trash on private property.

One of the companies had 23 citations and 10 convictions, one had nine citations and five convictions and one had seven citations and six convictions.

With three convictions in a two year period, the Board can suspend a permit for one year, said Lee.

Often commercial haulers who also do business in Louisiana are better at complying with the guidelines, because Louisiana’s guidelines are already much stricter. In Louisiana, only three commercial haulers are allowed per parish and insurance requirements are stricter, he said.

Lee said he believes that if the Board did not enforce the county ordinance, it could make it more difficult to enforce it in the future.

Lee asked the Board to consider changing the county ordinance to prevent commercial collectors whose permits have been pulled previously from immediately starting their operation again under a new business name. Lee suggested limiting both the person who has the permit and the business name from getting another permit for one year. At present, only the business name is prevented from getting another permit, which means the same person can immediately get a new permit under a different business name.

Board members said they would consult with the county attorney on updating the ordinance.

The next Board meeting will be Monday, Feb. 1 at 9 a.m.