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An attorney for the city's trash hauler on Wednesday night lacerated several McKeesport officials, accusing them of spreading "defamatory and slanderous" rumors about his client.

John Linkosky of Carnegie told city council that "not one person" has ever directly called Nickolas Nickolich of Nickolich Sanitation to ask why the amount of trash collected in the city has gone up 20 percent.

"If you want to sit there and make accusations of criminal conduct and fraud, then do Mr. Nickolich the courtesy of picking up the phone and giving him a call," Linkosky said. "You want to follow the trucks? Call Mr. Nickolich. You can meet his trucks at 4 a.m. when they start out."

Linkosky distributed photos taken by Nickolich's truck drivers --- some of them from Wednesday morning --- showing in one case a pile of trash "as high as a garage roof."

"Today, Nickolich Sanitation picked up 12 mattresses and box springs and five sleeper sofas," Linkosky said. "It's been raining all day. What do you think happens to this stuff when it sits out on the curb and gets saturated with water?"

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McKeesport pays for garbage hauling on a "tons collected" basis and assesses residents a quarterly fee of $70 for trash pickup, street lighting and other services. Since switching its garbage contract from Allied Waste Services to Nickolich, the annual tonnage hauled has increased from approximately 10,000 to 12,000 tons.

For two months, several city officials --- notably Councilman Darryl Segina and Controller Ray Malinchak --- have questioned why trash collection has jumped even as the city's population has fallen. Although no one has publicly accused Nickolich of submitting incorrect bills, elected officials have openly discussed several anonymous letters that have made accusations about the garbage contract.

The identity of the letter writer or writers has not been made public, though two elected officials on Wednesday night privately told the Almanac it's possible the letters were sent by a Nickolich competitor.

About 20 residents in the audience at Wednesday's council meeting gave Linkosky a round of applause when he finished his defense of Nickolich. They said Nickolich's crews are doing a more careful job than previous city trash haulers, and often haul rubbish that was left behind because it wasn't bundled or in cans.

Council President Michael Cherepko agreed. "Our other garbage haulers would not haul everything," he said. "If it wasn't packed up nicely, it was just left in the street. You'd ride around the city after a trash pickup and you'd see cans left everywhere, and garbage scattered in the street."

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Several council members have been pressing for the city to hire a private investigator to find out why Nickolich's tonnage is higher than Allied's. Among his council colleagues, Cherepko has been cautious about pressing for an investigation, and has accused Malinchak and others of trying to turn the garbage contract into a political issue because of the upcoming election for mayor.

Cherepko, Segina and Councilman A.J. Tedesco Jr. are challenging Mayor Regis McLaughlin and former school board President Lori Spando for the Democratic nomination. Malinchak was also rumored to be considering a campaign, but is not a candidate in the primary.

Linkosky said his client heard about the accusations from articles in the Daily News. "Guess how many questions Nick has gotten from you?" he asked city officials. "Zero. You want to conduct an investigation? Fine. You want to spend taxpayers' money to hire a private investigator? Go ahead.

"I have a better idea," Linkosky said. "Come ride on Mr. Nickolich's trucks as he collects the garbage. Get on the scale with the trucks when they're weighed."

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Councilwoman Loretta Diggs said Wednesday it's possible that McKeesport's high transient population is contributing to the increase in trash volume. Some rental properties change hands two or three times in a year, Diggs said, and the tenants leave their old furniture and clothes behind to be hauled away.

"If people are moving out every couple of months, that's a lot of garbage," Linkosky said.

And police Chief Bryan Washowich and Public Works Director Nick Shermenti said they've caught outsiders dumping construction debris in trash bins. A contractor from Pittsburgh was recently cited for dumping more than five tons of demolition material in a roll-off bin at the city garage over the Easter holiday weekend, Washowich said.

One trash truck driver called Nickolich on Wednesday morning because a garage door was left for curbside pickup, "and there wasn't a garage at that house," Nickolich said.

Malinchak said that if Nickolich wants to put all of the rumors to rest, he can help pay for an independent investigation. Linkosky laughed at the suggestion. "Now you want him to fund your investigation?" he said. "Give him a break."

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McKeesport's policy of offering unlimited garbage collection for residents "is different from a lot of other communities," Nickolich said yesterday. "In other communities, we charge the homeowners" or limit the amount of trash picked up, he said. In McKeesport, Nickolich's crews pick up "a lot of building material" and "a lot of grass" from lawn mowing, he said.

It's probably unlikely that the city would bill residents individually, or charge residents based on the amount of garbage they put out, Cherepko told the Almanac after Wednesday's meeting.

"No one wants to bid on a per-can or per-house contract because it becomes a problem to collect the fees," Cherepko said. "If people don't pay their garbage bills, everyone else winds up paying higher rates."

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