Supervisors receive six landfill proposals

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 26, 2000

On their second try, Warren County supervisors received six proposals Monday for future disposal of county and Vicksburg’s household garbage.

In June, three proposals, which are like bids, were submitted when those making offers were limited to plans to haul waste out of the county.

The city and county began anew after backers of local alternatives said they wanted to make offers for in-county disposal. A third alternative was added to specifications calling for bidders to provide a place to “deposit the garbage, whether that be the final place of disposal or not.” That option opened the door for landowner Billy Ewell, who holds the only subtitle D landfill permit in the county.

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Ewell is preparing his 10-acre site off Jeff Davis Road for operation next year. Under the name Warren County Waste Disposal Inc., Ewell and his partners, attorney Kelly Loyacono and developer Pete Buford, proposed entering into a 10-year contract with the city at a rate of $33.66 per ton.

For about 10 years, all residential garbage in the city has been collected by Waste Management Inc., and taken to a transfer station on U.S. 61 South. From there, BFI has had the contract to transfer the waste to the Little Dixie Landfill in Jackson at a rate of $35 per ton.

The city contract with BFI expires in May, leaving the city with a little more than eight months to enter into a new agreement.

In the county, a number of independent haulers collect residential garbage. Those haulers take the waste to the BFI transfer station on U.S. 61 South, but are under no government obligation to do so.

BFI submitted a proposal to continue that operation at a rate of $34.47 per ton for five years. Under the third option to provide a designated place for all garbage, BFI proposed a five-year contract at $23 per ton. Under that alternative, the city and county would have to pay to transfer garbage to the Little Dixie Landfill in Jackson for disposal.

Waste Management also submitted a proposal to transfer city and county garbage to a landfill outside the county for 10 or 5 years at $33 per ton. The company offered a rate of $20 per ton to accept garbage at Plantation Oaks Landfill in Natchez or Magnolia Landfill in Monroe, but not provide transportation to the site.

Other proposals were received from the City of Canton, Earth Recycling and Disposal Inc., of Tallulah and Twin Bridges Co., Inc., of Alexandria.

The next step in the process of determining where the county’s garbage will go from here is up to the Mayor and Aldermen. The city board will meet with the county to discuss the six proposals, but it is up to the city to ultimately award a contract.

Any new transfer stations or landfills in the county would have to be permitted by the county board, but that step would not be needed for either BFI or Waste Management, who currently each hold a permit for a transfer station, or the landfill off Jeff Davis Road which is also already permitted by the county.

Hauling garbage to a landfill outside of the county, without using a transfer station, would not require a new permit, but any new transfer station or landfill would necessitate supervisors approval.

Before 1990, Warren County owned and operated two landfills, one on Standard Hill Road near the present site of Sherman Avenue Elementary, and one on Dana Road. Both were sealed in anticipation of new federal standards for waste disposal.

There have been proposals to open new landfills, but none has met with success. After one court fight, supervisors created a waste advisory committee to review plans and proposals and to develop a long-term countywide strategy.