Perry County's Landfill Deal

[colonelsanders]

Well, they did it. I guess a giant landfill is on its way to Uniontown. How do these commissioners expect to get re-elected? :dunno:

Here's the story in the Tuscaloosa News.

Perry County residents are planning a legal challenge to a solid-waste disposal plan that includes the construction of a landfill near Uniontown.

The Perry County Commission unanimously approved the plan Tuesday after months of wrangling over the issue. The county voted last year to build a landfill, but the process was stalled after the group Perry County Concerned Citizens filed an injunction to stop the construction of the landfill because of a lack of information and public hearings. The commission decided to start the process over and held a public hearing on the solid waste plan in December.

Robert Bamberg, a member of the concerned citizens group, said he’s glad the commission finally voted for the plan.

“Now that enables us to do what we said we were going to do, and that’s to fight it," he said. “We plan to begin legal proceedings."

Attorneys for the citizens group argued last year that the county can’t charge a tipping fee because the commission authorized a private group, Perry County Associates LLC, to own and operate the landfill. The tipping fee was how the commission planned to profit from the landfill’s operation.

Bamberg said residents have blocked a proposed landfill in Lowndes County for seven years.

“We know this is a long-term ordeal and we plan to go the distance," he said.

The Perry County plan now goes to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for approval. That agency has 60 days to make a decision on the plan. Every county in the state must file a solid waste disposal plan with ADEM and update it regularly.

Commission Chairman Johnny Flowers said the commission will have to hold another public hearing if ADEM approves the plan to discuss the landfill itself, and will have to advertise the meeting 45 days beforehand. ADEM will then gather public comments and decide whether to grant a permit for the landfill’s construction.

The landfill would be built on 1,113 acres in southeast Perry County, about a mile from Uniontown. It would have a 256-acre disposal area and could accept a maximum of 7,500 tons per day.

Originally, the plan called for the landfill to accept garbage from 16 states, including several states in the northeast like New York and New Jersey.

Flowers said the names of states were removed, and language inserted into the plan that calls for the landfill to accept garbage from any hauler licensed to take waste to Subtitle D landfills in Alabama. Federal regulations require household garbage and many other types of solid waste to be disposed of in Subtitle D landfills, which are governed by stringent environmental regulations.

The Perry County landfill would be a Subtitle D facility.

“The hauler can be within the state or outside of the state," Flowers said. That means a license holder could bring waste from a larger area than the 16 states first outlined, opponents like Bamberg claim.

[Real Deal]

Do you really think a landfill is going to hurt the appearance of Uniontown or cause people to not want to live there any more than they already do? Uniontown sounds like a great place for a landfill!!

[Bocephus]

Ya, they should put it right in the middle of town. HA HA!!!

[Ranger]

Well thats is where most of the trash is anyway. LOL

[colonelsanders]

That attitude got Uniontown where it is today.

[dave]

Uniontown is just over the hill from Demopolis. Let them dump the trash in another state.

[Eagle101]

I read an article where a group was investigating why new landfills are almost always located in majority back areas. One question, what is the racial makeup of the Perry County Commission?

[colonelsanders]

Three black, two white. All corrupt. And the people who own the landfill are white. Albert Turner, Jr. loves to harp on his Civil Rights leader father while calling blacks who disagree with him "hanky-head ******s."

[kaye334]

I think ALL county commissions are corrupt. Politics in our area are just plain corrupt. With all of our cities and counties being of such a small population, popularity based on skin color has gotten way out of hand. Take Armstead and Lankster for instance. The black community knows how neither one of them do their jobs correctly. But guess what, they will and have been elected because of the color of their skin. This is why Uniontown, Marengo county and other surrounding areas are in their positions today. I say if a black man is the BEST candidate for a job in a primarily white populated area, then he should be the elected, not the white man who has no qualifications for the job. Same of a white man in a primarily black area. PEOPLE get over it, live in 2004, not 1904. We are corrupting our own neighborhoods. We vote, we put these people in office. Sorry to rant, but struck a nerve here!

[colonelsanders]

Sometimes they win whether people elect them or not.

[Bocephus]

Originally posted by colonelsanders
That attitude got Uniontown where it is today.

I disagree! When Uniontown had a police chief worth anything, they got rid of him! Drugs and all that goes with it is what got Uniontown in the shape its in.

[colonelsanders]

Ok, more specifically, giving up on progress got Uniontown where it is today.