Nevada County will pay an additional $28,000 to Waste Management in a one-time fee to transport wood waste from the McCourtney Road Transfer Station to a co-generation facility in Redding.

Nearby facilities which ordinarily accept the recycled material rejected the wood because it was contaminated with mud and rocks after spending all winter in a dirt area of the transfer station.

"It was refused at several locations," said Steve Porter, the county's solid waste manager.

Since then, the wood dumping area has been moved onto pavement. The payment is reimbursing Waste Management for additional "transportation and processing costs" to haul away the waste wood, said Mark Miller, director of the department of sanitation, in a letter to county supervisors.

Supervisors approved the payment on Tuesday.

In May, the county doubled fees for wood waste to $30 per ton, averaging about $3 for a pickup load. Gasoline prices could cause that fee to jump again, Porter said.