Supes take no action on 3rd landfill

The Board of Supervisors will not oppose a conglomerate of developers proposing to build a third landfill in Madison County just off of North County Line Rd. in the southeastern-most part of the county.

The topic of the landfill dominated their meeting Monday evening.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee made a second appearance before the board and pleaded his case against the development before several concerned citizens took to the podium begging supervisors to amend the county's solid waste plan and stop the project.

"Obviously we would have liked to see them make a decision to stop this project tonight," McGee said. "Or they could have at least supported our effort to extend the public comment period another six months so that (the Department of Environmental Quality) could gather more information before ruling on their permits."

Ultimately, the board — under threat of a lawsuit from Johnny Brunnini, who represents NCL Waste, LLC — did neither.

Supervisors remained mostly quiet during the discussion, even when challenged directly by members of the community who live in the area immediately surrounding the proposed site.

Sylvia Thomas, who lives less than a mile away at 150 Ledora Lane, asked the supervisors individually if they would explain their support for the project, which has drawn strong opposition from county residents.

David Bishop, whose district includes the proposed site of the landfill, did not attend the meeting.



"I think if you are going to let this happen, you at least owe it to us to explain why you support it or why there's a need there," Thomas said.

"These developers don't live out there. Mr. Brunnini doesn't live out there. So why are you supporting them over the residents?"

District III Supervisor Gerald Steen was the only board member who attempted to answer Thomas, restating his position that the lawsuit the county would incur by opposing the project after supporting it over the years would result in a hefty settlement against it.

"We don't want another one," Thomas said, against referencing the fact that Madison already has two landfills while no other county in the state has more than one. "I'm not interested in what the attorney's have to say, I just want to know why you individually support this."

Thomas then singled out District 5 Supervisor Paul Griffin, asking him specifically if there was a need for the landfill and why he was supporting it.

Griffin sat silently for a couple of moments before saying "My position on this issue has not changed."

After lengthy discussion, the board went into executive session to discuss the potential litigation with board attorney Katie Bryant Snell, who voiced her concern over the potential lawsuit.

Following that executive session, the board did not bring the issue up for a vote, which rubbed McGee the wrong way.

"I really feel like the board made a big mistake and shirked their responsibility on this issue," he said. "I think they should have at least voted on the issue and put it on the record so we'd know where everyone stood. Instead, they didn't do anything and basically ignored the problem."

The opposition to the project has been well-documented.

Ahead of an Oct. 28 deadline for public comments, residents packed an MDEQ hearing on a proposed new landfill west of Ridgeland to protest the stench of an existing nearby dump, among other things.

More than 350 concerned citizens showed up at Tougaloo College last month to oppose the second landfill on North County Line Road.

A rubbish landfill exists in the area as well, and another is proposed, but the controversy is over the household garbage dump, which would be the third in Madison County. The other is in Canton.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) heard from more than 40 citizens at the public hearing, which was to designed to give residents a chance to ask questions and obtain feedback on the proposed 89-acre development situated north of West County Line Road, west of Tougaloo.

Only two people spoke in support of the project and both were employees of NCL Waste.

McGee, who was joined at the meeting Monday by Community Development Director Alan Hart and the city's entire board, indicated Wednesday a renewed resolve to carry the city's fight over the project "as long as it takes."

"We're going to continue to work," McGee said. "We're going to appeal to MDEQ to deny the permits and we're going to fight to make sure they have enough time to make the right decision, because the cost of inaction would be felt for these residents for years and years to come."