Landfill closure may mean higher rates for Lewis' waste

An employee of United Waste Haulers announced the impact of the closure of Decatur County’s landfill on Lewis County last Monday evening. The Board of Commissioners learned fees for Lewis County’s waste disposal could be increasing by approximately $108,000 annually.

Mike Papineau of Mount Pleasant, who manages United Waste Haulers with his wife, Diane, presented three options to Lewis County for waste disposal.

Lewis County’s waste could be transported to Camden, Lewisburg or Walnut, Mississippi, Papineau informed.

Camden’s landfill, owned by Waste Management, is 132 miles round trip with a tipping fee of $35 per ton. Cedar Ridge in Lewisburg, owned by Waste Management, a 104 mile round trip, is at $35 per ton. Walnut, Mississippi landfill is owned by Waste Connections, a 218 miles round trip with a tipping fee of $18 per ton.

Currently, Lewis County pays $39.19 per ton of which $18 is a tipping fee. An increase of $17 per ton, $56.19 total, is anticipated. From July 2019-January 2020, Lewis County will have paid an estimated $146,031.35 for an average of 532.32 tons per month, Mayor Jonah Keltner informed the Board.

History

Operations of the Decatur County-owned landfill have been managed by Waste Industries’ subsidiary, Waste Services of Decatur, a private company of North Carolina, since the late 1990s. Local water treatment facilities were accepting and treating waste water, a leachate, primarily created by household garbage or items too large for trash receptacles.

A change in the company’s business model allowed industrial waste, a report by Tennessean.com stated. The landfill began accepting aluminum slag a couple of years in from a smelting plant in Mount Pleasant which brought higher tipping fees, more profitability for the landfill.

As a result, in 2003, hundreds of gallons of waste water, or leachate, created every time it rains were generated containing “high levels of ammonia and heavy metals,” the Tennessean report continued.

Trucks were hired to haul away the leachate paid for by Decatur Waste Services as local water treatment facilities were unable to effectively clean the water.

Disposal of the leachate grew in cost to $1 million annually. Last year, B and T Hauling was cited for illegally dumping the leachate in Benton County “at the edge of the woods” at a private landowner’s property.

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation monitors landfills across the state, and approves permits for special wastes.

Lewis County had an opportunity to accept the aluminum slag in 2008, but citizens strongly opposed the landfill and effectively blocked the action.

Looking toward 2020

Decatur County was notified November 15, 2019 they have 90 days to close their landfill.

If Lewis County continues to generate the same amount of refuse, 532.32 tons per month, from February-June 2020, Lewis County could pay an additional $149,555.30 for trash removal. A budget shortage of $42,936.65 could be expected.

Projections for 2020-2021 are $358,930.48, an increase of $108,592.79, the mayor indicated.