Southern Oregon Sanitation Inc. (SOS)

'When it comes to disposal & recycling, we have solutions'

As we all grow more conscious of our impact on the natural world around us and as concerns about resource limitations increase, there is also a growing awareness that we need to minimize the amount of waste we produce, and handle what we do generate as responsibly as possible.  SOS is your committed partner in this effort.  We offer a well-designed set of options for traditional garbage collection and a complement of other services to handle additional household and specialized waste.

The SOS management team has also partnered with local businesses and organizations to promote safe and green waste systems.  Partners include the DEQ, Rogue Waste and Southern Oregon Aspire, among others.

Over the years, SOS has significantly increased its capacity to serve customers throughout Josephine County, as well as extensive areas of Jackson and Klamath counties. SOS provides services not only in Grants Pass, Kerby and Cave Junction and rural Josephine County, but also Eagle Point, Rogue River, Gold Hill, Shady Cove, Butte Falls, and rural Jackson County.

Our two transfer stations are located on Redwood Ave in Grants Pass and on Kerby Mainline Rd in Kerby. The Grants Pass facility is open seven days a week, saving citizens the drive to the Merlin transfer station. SOS also serves the region’s growing recycling needs with depots at the Grants Pass and Kerby locations, as well as the Eagle Point Recycling Center.

Our goal is to consistently develop approaches to waste management that are efficient, cost effective and sustainable.  In addition to solid waste, SOS handles medical waste, wood, commercial, industrial and yard debris waste. We have also implemented an E-Cycle program for computer monitors and television screens, with improved systems and processes underway for electronic recycling and prescription drug waste solutions.

SOS has over 70 full-time employees, including company management and office staff, drivers, mechanics and those providing service at the transfer stations.

The SOS management team and its Board of Directors continually evaluate the company’s approach to our business and our mission. As a result, we regularly implement improved logistical solutions as well as refined long-term strategies for the delivery of all our waste management services.  A primary focus - SOS is committed to continually upgrading our transportation equipment, as an expression of our commitment to economically sound, driving safety, and environmentally responsible operations.

History

On August 1st 1948, Harold Patrick Fahey started as owner and sole employee of Pat’s Sanitary Service.  Harold (Pat) and his wife Birdena worked long and hard by choice, purposefully investing their time and income back into the business.
Though they experienced lean times early on, the couple kept their passion and their vision moving forward. As planned, the Faheys secured additional garbage collection territories, including Rogue River, Eagle Point and Cave Junction.
With every new acquisition, the Faheys increased their staff, improved their systems and continued transforming their ordinary garbage collection business into a waste management enterprise. The couple worked as a team with their children in tow.
Rich, Gail, Nanci and Patrick unofficially worked for SOS from the time they could walk, learning the value of a dollar and the importance of good work ethics. All through their childhood, they were encouraged to pursue a higher education and become productive citizens who contribute to the well-being of a community.
Birdena passed away in 1985. The elder Pat continued full-time at SOS until the mid-1990s, and passed away in 2002. He was a founding member the Oregon Refuse & Recycling Association (ORRA) and a member of its Hall of Fame.

With the vision of moving the business forward and the evolution of the waste industry several evolutionary steps have been made to provide the most cost effective systems for our customers.  Semi-automated routes and standardized residential garbage carts provided to the customers started in the early 1990s with fully automated side load trucks starting in the late 90s.

The Redwood avenue transfer station was completed in 2000, providing an efficient, centralized location for the Grants Pass operations to haul trailers to the Dry Creek landfill.  Automated Commingled Recycling and Residential Yard debris services started in the early 2000s.  Commercial Front Load trucks and containers started in the late 2000s.

Harold’s youngest son, Patrick Fahey, retired from SOS in 2016.  Pat was the second General Manager of the company’s long history in the valley.  He was born into the industry and has been a garbage man his entire life; he continues to state that he simply wouldn’t want to do anything else.

Now on the 3rd generation of family ownership and management, Trent Carpenter is only the 3rd General Manager in the company’s 70 years of business.  Starting at the bottom like his predecessors, he has worked in nearly every job description available at SOS including: Driver, Cart Delivery, Medical Waste, Transfer Station Attendant, Customer Service Rep, and Management.

SOS has continued to grow and evolve over the past 70 years, because we believe that we can help people and communities achieve more than imagined through our service.