Jackson Free Press

All day long, hulking trucks rumble along North County Line Road to dump loads of rubbish at one of the area's two waste dumps. At the north end of the road sits Republic Services Inc.-operated Little Dixie Landfill; at the far south end is a rubbish landfill, which Madison South Rubbish Landfill Inc. owns. Between those facilities lies a 160 acre-parcel of land where landowner Mike Bilberry wants to put a third landfill.

To say that the proposed landfill has met with resistance would be an understatement.

"This is not the appropriate location for another sanitary landfill," said James Baker, director of planning and administration for Hinds County, at a recent board of supervisors meeting.

Baker and other opponents note that Bilberry's landfill would become the fourth garbage dump in Madison County.

The issue, which has dragged on for more than 13 years, may soon reach a resolution. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which must grant a permit before construction of new landfills can move forward, will hold a public hearing this week.

At a previous hearing, held in June 2010 at Potter's House Fellowship Worship Center in Jackson, residents complained that a new landfill could cause health problems for neighbors.

Hinds County, which has long opposed the landfill, argues that the area already has too many places to dump trash and that more trucks traveling along the deteriorating roadway, which Hinds maintains, will unfairly burden the county's taxpayers.

"This seems to be a Madison County issue but is using a Hinds County road," District 4 Supervisor Phil Fisher said at last week's meeting. He added that if MDEQ grants the permit and the project moves forward, "Madison should pay for (maintenance of) the road or find another route to get there."

The kerfuffle between the counties dates back to December 2003 when Madison County amended its waste management plan to include a third landfill, a step the state requires before building a landfill. After state environmental regulators approved the Madison County plan, Hinds County objected, appealing MDEQ's decision to Chancery Court and ultimately to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Hinds County argued that MDEQ failed in its duty to determine whether the area needed an additional facility and that the additional costs would be burdensome for Hinds County taxpayers. Hinds County also raised concerns about environmental justice due to the fact that eight black families live near the proposed landfill. The Supreme Court upheld the environmental commission's decision.

Jim McNaughton, a Bilberry consultant who worked for BFI (the former owners of the Little Dixie landfill) for 18 years, said the Bilberry family bought the land in the 1950s. Then, landfills sprang up all around them. McNaughton criticized MDEQ for making requests of Bilberry that it hasn't made of other landfills.

MDEQ wants the Bilberry landfill, which would be shielded by trees along North County Line Road, to have a 500-foot setback; the neighboring Little Dixie landfill has only a 50-foot setback and no screen.

Although he understands the emotional response to installing a landfill, McNaughton called the facilities "necessary infrastructure" from which everyone benefits.

As evidence he cites the amount of refuse that individuals generate. Each year, Americans generate about 250 million tons of trash, or about 1.5 tons per person, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mississippi accounts for 6.5 million tons of the nation's total. Republic Services reported 17 more years of capacity at Little Dixie, according to information from MDEQ. The City of Canton reported 150 years of life at the city-owned landfill.

People who oppose the landfills often ask McNaughton if something can be done with trash besides putting it into the ground.

To that he has a simple answer: "If you stop putting your garage out at the curb, then there are no more landfills."

An MDEQ public hearing regarding the proposed Bilberry landfill takes place on Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Tougaloo College's Holmes Hall.

Trash in the U.S.
250 million tons of garbage per year
4. 43 pounds of trash per person each day
85 million tons composted
65 million tons recycled
29 million tons used for energy

Trash in Mississippi
6. 48 million tons of garbage per year
19 municipal solid-waste landfills
149 rubbish-disposal facilities (e.g. tree limbs, concrete)
732,780 tons of solid waste from out-of-state