Mercer County still may get a $1.3 million grant for a recycling consolidation center, said Todd Pejack of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Mercer and Lawrence counties had agreed to use a combined total of $2.5 million in DEP grants to set up a recycling consolidation center somewhere along the border of the two counties, buy equipment and to begin education programs, said Mercer County Commissioner Kenneth Seamans.

"The agreement was signed in December," he said. "And then, the Lawrence commissioners turned their back on it, declared the agreement null and void, without saying a word to us."

The consolidation center, if built, would serve as a collection point for recyclable materials. Trucks would collect recyclables from dropoff stations around the county and take them to the consolidation center. From there, a truck would make a daily trip to a recycling center in Meadville.

The single trip would save Mercer County the money it spends on several daily trips to Meadville, county commissioners have said.

Lawrence County commissioners voted Feb. 25 to reject the $1.3 million grant earmarked for the setup of the consolidation center. They decided to go with a traditional recycling program, seeking bids from area waste haulers for the contract and using existing collection areas.

The DEP grant calls for the use of Canadian-made V-Quip recycling bins, which Mercer County bought last year and already has in place at several sites.

Lawrence County commissioners cited the additional cost of the V-Quip collection containers as the reason they decided to bow out of the regional collection center. They did accept a DEP grant for $900,000 to pay for the county's recycling program, saying any money left over from that grant will be passed through to Mercer County.

Mercer County officials voiced fears that Lawrence County's rejection of the V-Quip system could result in the loss of money for Mercer County.

"But Harrisburg said 'Don't panic,' " Seamans said. "They said we'd have time to work something out." The original deadline was Friday.

Pejack said Lawrence County has until May 1 to sign an agreement that would set the county up as a conduit for Mercer County to receive grant money for the consolidation center.

"As far as I know, Lawrence County is still planning to cooperate with Mercer County," Pejack said.

Even if everything works out in the end, Seamans said, Lawrence County's decision might cause strained relations between the two counties.

"They turned their backs on our agreement," Seamans said.