The defunct garbage hauler, Racoon Refuse, has been found in contempt of court in Crawford County for failing to comply with a court order to clean up its Sparta Township transfer station. Judge Francis Schultz granted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection contempt petition against Raccoon Refuse and its owner, Ernest Sell, following a six-minute hearing Tuesday afternoon. Neither Sell nor any representative of Raccoon Refuse appeared at the hearing.
Raccoon Refuse abruptly halted all its garbage hauling operations Aug. 15, leaving 14,000 customers in northwestern Pennsylvania — including municipalities and individuals — without contracted garbage service.