Danielle Jackson

Hartford, Conn. -- According to recent financial analysis, trash disposal fees could rise by as much as 60 percent for the 68 municipalities served by the Mid-Connecticut trash-to-energy project, primarily because of its ties to Enron Corp., an energy-trading company that filed for bankruptcy protection this month.

If Enron cannot make $26.4 million per year in contractual payments to the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA), fees for Mid-Connecticut member towns may need to increase by $31 per ton to offset the revenue loss, according to George H. Sparks, chief operating officer for the Metropolitan District Commission.

Mid-Connecticut member towns now pay $51 per ton to dump garbage at the regional waste-to-energy plant in Hartford. But according to CRRA president Robert Wright, at the least, the per-ton fee probably will increase by no more than $2 to $5 in the next year.