Supes face issue of expensive study

Supes face issue of expensive study

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Concerned citizens opposed to a third landfill held a press conference prior to Monday’s regular meeting fo the Madison County Board of Supervisors to talk about the stench, fumes, environmental hazards and other risks even though the matter was removed from the agenda at the last minute.

The controversial project is currently stalled after the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality tabled the permit until Madison County supervisors update a needs assessment to justify the new landfill.

Supervisors voted to accept a letter from Butler-Snow attorney John Brunini, who represents NCL Solid Waste LLC, urging the board to contract for an updated solid waste needs assessment for the county, even offering to reimburse the county for any expenses it incurs for such a study.

A second letter from Brunini asked for the item to be pulled from the agenda to allow NCL additional time to meet with Board Attorney Mike Espy and other interested parties to explore alternative options.

After accepting both letters into the minutes, the board heard from Ridgeland Mayor Gene F. McGee and Ron Farris, an attorney for the group of citizens opposed to the development calling themselves “No More Dumps.”

McGee said he would reserve his full comments for a later date when the item was back on the agenda, but said as the mayor of the city that has started the legal process of annexing the area that includes the site of the proposed dump.

“I would point out that NCL is alone in protesting Ridgeland’s effort to annex that area,” McGee said.

Before the meeting, Farris spoke to a group of reporters from four different TV stations while flanked by protestors carrying signs bearing messages like “NCL Landfill Reeks of Injustice” and “We Don’t Want Your Stinkin’ Trash.”

“We understand that Madison County may seek to host a dialogue between the garbage company and the county and those interested parties, including us, in efforts to reach a workable solution to this problem,” Farris said.

Other speakers at the event included local resident Cynthia McGilberry, who represents nearby Woodland Springs subdivision, and Central Mississippi Realtors Association President Katie Warren.

McGilberry, who has voiced opposition to the proposal since NCL ramped up a push to get the project started last year, said the existing Little Dixie landfill, next door to the proposed site of the new landfill, already negatively impacts her life.

“I smell gas fumes and it is awful,” she said. “We are exposed to environmental hazards and great risks. I have grandchildren that I will not let play outside. We live within one mile of the proposed landfill and already live one mile from the current landfill, and we experience an awful stench.”

Warren said simply proposing a new landfill in the area has devastated land value for nearby homeowners.

“We have already lost sales on properties from people talking about this landfill possibly happening,” she said. “Just this weekend, there was a couple from Hattiesburg that wanted to buy in Madison County and decided not to because of this.”

Supervisors so far have not taken any steps towards hiring a firm to conduct such a study.

Madison is currently the only of Mississippi’s 82 counties with two existing solid waste landfills.






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