[1/13/03]A public hearing set for Thursday night at the Battlefield Inn could determine the fate of a long-proposed landfill in south Warren County.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality will present information about and take public input concerning the landfill proposal off Jeff Davis Road. The owners of the W.T. Ewell Sanitary Landfill are seeking permission from the state to begin building on the 10-acres site first given a permit in 1986.

“We know we’ve done everything possible according to DEQ,” said local attorney Paul Kelly Loyacono, one of the partners in Warren County Waste Disposal Inc.

But, the process may not go that smoothly.

Warren County supervisors sent a resolution to the state last month asking that the permit process start over for that landfill. If that happens, supervisors would have a say in its development.

Warren County District 4 Supervisor Bill Lauderdale, whose district includes the Jeff Davis Road area, has said pollution and damage to roads are two main concerns for the county.

Under federal and state regulations enacted since the Ewell landfill was permitted, the Warren County Board of Supervisors has amended the county’s 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan to include the landfill. If DEQ rejects the current request from the owners, supervisors could vote the proposal up or down.

“I just don’t understand why the supervisors would not want the citizens of Warren County to get the best possible price,” Loyacono said.

If approved by the state, the owners, including Betty Ewell, the widow of W.T. Ewell, could begin building on the site to accept household garbage.

Today, no landfills operating in Warren County are classed as “Subtitle D” and eligible to accept household garbage.

All residential garbage is trucked out of the county under an agreement with Waste Management Inc.

Before 1990, Warren County owned and operated two landfills. Both were sealed in anticipation of new federal standards for disposal.

Warren County Waste Disposal operates a rubbish landfill off Jeff Davis Road, which takes yard waste and construction debris, but not household waste.