Sanitary Service Company purchases Blaine Bay Refuse

Bellingham Business Journal, Sept, 2008 by Lance Henderson

Sanitary Service Company has a little less competition in Whatcom County after the acquisition of Blaine Bay Refuse last month.

Effective Aug. 1, Sanitary Service Company, a family-owned company which has served the greater Whatcom County area for the past 75 years, acquired Blaine Bay Refuse and added approximately 3,500 new customers. SSC has also acquired six former Blaine Bay employees and six of its trucks.

Now, Whatcom County's only other waste disposal companies are Point Recycling and Refuse in Point Roberts and Nooksack Valley Disposal & Recycling, which services areas of northern Whatcom County.

SSC president Paul Razore said while both SSC and Blaine Bay Refuse had jurisdiction within Birch Bay, most of the new customers will come from acquiring customers within Blaine city limits.

Razore said Blaine Bay Refuse's former owner, Larry McCarter, had run the company for several years and was looking for a way out. McCarter could not be reached for comment.

"He was looking for a way to simplify his life and we were able to make a deal," Razore said.

In 1929, Agostino "Gus" Razore founded SSC as City Sanitary Service Company, with two other businessmen, Josie Razore (no relation) and Mario Torre. The company began with five employees and 500 customers and collected garbage from residents and businesses by horse and carriage. The company name was changed to SSC in 1974.

Today, SSC employs nearly 100 people and services more than 45,000 commercial and residential customers in Whatcom County.

Lance Henderson

lance@thebellinghambusinessjournal.com