Garbage fires spur new shipping regulations, but who will pay the price? Posted by Katherine Rose | May 14, 2021 The last time an open-topped Sitka garbage container caught fire was 2016 (pictured above). Republic Services shared the image in a presentation to the Assembly on Tuesday. (City of Sitka) The cost to ship Sitka’s trash may increase soon. When the Sitka Assembly met on Tuesday night (5-11-21), the group heard a presentation from the city’s solid waste contractor about policy changes for barging trash. But the city is pushing back on footing the bill. Last fall, Alaska Marine Lines announced it would begin refusing shipments of solid waste in open containers on June 1. That poses a problem for Sitka because the city currently ships its solid waste in containers without lids. Switching to closed containers and fully compacting the trash would require a significant investment in new equipment that