Waste Pro of Mississippi will end residential and commercial garbage service in nonmunicipal Warren County by Dec. 31, leaving two permitted haulers in the county and reviving talk among county supervisors to permit a single, countywide service.

The Jackson-based company has about 400 customers, about the same as Earth Friends Environmental Services, said environmental officer Katie Strong during an informal board session Monday. Fayette-based Earth Friends also is ending its service to county residents by year’s end.

Both had the bulk of their customers in the Eagle Lake community, Strong said, adding the Jackson company had lost interest in continuing service in Eagle Lake, about 20 miles north of Vicksburg, due to expenses, as had Earth Friends. Waste Pro’s permits had been renewed this month.

Whether the board decides to request proposals to handle garbage service — widely expected to be won by a corporate entity — depends on what happens between now and Jan. 1, officials said. District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, whose district is entirely within city limits, said the board’s hand is already forced.

“We’re down to two people,” Selmon said. “I think we’re at a point now where we need to consider having one hauler for Warren County or having two people divide the county in half.”

“I’ve been wanting to do this bid for one (hauler) because the more garbage you can collect, the cheaper you can do it for,” Board President Bill Lauderdale said.

Waste Management, which reported 4,501 customers outside Vicksburg during its permit renewal, is expected to fill the gap, Strong said. The lone other permitted hauler, Oscar Mayfield, is expected to keep his current base south of Interstate 20 and a few in Lake Forest, Strong said.

“Waste Management has already sent us an email saying they will service all areas, including Eagle Lake,” Strong said.

Outside Vicksburg, residents and businesses must contract for their own garbage pickup. A $1.25 surcharge added to the approximately 6,200 such customers funds the county’s environmental office, a function of an environmental clerk and the building permit field officer.

The office tracks the number of paying customers to satisfy disposal laws enforced by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

Garbage may be taken to commercial receptacles, with permission from the owner.

Permits reviewed twice yearly ask haulers to use properly marked packer trucks and have updated customer lists.

Earlier this year, the board hinted strongly it would scrap the current system in favor of a single hauler. A formal request for proposals would start the process. Part of Waste Management’s offer renewed in 2011 by the city for municipal residents broke down to $11.88 a month for county residents, less than the $22 to $27 charged by the company outside the city under supervisors’ current arrangement.

In May, customers of family-run operations for years spoke out against the change based on familiarity with their chosen pickup service. Since the spring, one private hauler, John Hatchett, retired and another, Billy Drake, was denied a new permit. Drake has appealed the decision in circuit court.