The Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to oppose the controversial proposed NCL solid waste landfill on North County Line Road in Madison County at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning joining a growing bi-partisan group of opponents.
The supervisors voted to officially oppose the landfill stating that the people of Hinds County don’t want a third garbage dump at the proposed North County Line Road location.
“All up and down Highway 49, North County Line Road, County Line Road, people are opposed to this landfill,” said District 2 supervisor David Archie, “We are speaking today for all the citizens of Hinds County.”
“This landfill would really be damaging to Hinds County,” said Board President Credell Calhoun.
Numerous citizens appeared before the board asking them to oppose the landfill, including retired Jackson Police Department officer Beverly Harris Williams, who presented the board with a petition signed by over 200 Hinds County residents opposed to the dump.
“We ask that you partner with us to protect our homes, protect our kids, protect our environment,” Williams told the board. After the vote, Williams commented, “We are proud of our supervisors for standing up for the citizens of Hinds County.”
Hinds County’s opposition to a virtually identical landfill application in 2010 was cited by MDEQ officials as one of the reasons that application was denied.
“This unanimous vote directly opposing NCL’s application should be given serious weight at MDEQ,” said Ron Farris, a Madison County resident and attorney for No More Dumps, a bi-partisan coalition of citizens and businesses fighting the landfill.
The issue has galvanized a unique, bi-partisan, racially diverse coalition of opponents, including former U.S. Senator Trent Lott, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Ridgeland Mayor Gene Magee, Canton Mayor William Truly, Jr., Flora Mayor Les Childress, Central Mississippi REALTORS®, North Livingston Homeowner’s Association and several other homeowner’s associations in Madison County. Ridgeland, Canton and Flora have adopted similar resolutions formally opposing the NCL landfill.
Cynthia McGilberry, a registered nurse who lives in the Woodland Springs neighborhood, a platted subdivision with 21 homes less than a mile from the NCL site, shared her concerns about the new landfill based on her experience with the current landfill.
“When I come home at night from work, I smell gas fumes that are so strong I have to cover my nose and put a mask on. We are asking if you all would join us in our effort because we don’t want to be exposed as citizens to the health hazards.”
“If approved, the landfill would make south Madison County a regional waste receptacle for trash from across Mississippi and other states forever changing the trajectory of the area,” Farris said, “We are already the only county with two landfills, and it seems clear that we have no need for another.”
The MDEQ Permit Board voted in early 2020 to take no action on NCL’s landfill application until Madison County studies whether the landfill is actually needed or not. A few months after that, NCL was exposed in their letter to the Madison County Board of Supervisors attempting to fund the County’s study of whether Madison County needs a third unprecedented landfill.
NCL later withdrew their letter demanding the County conduct the study which NCL offered to fund; however, NCL later sued the County for $60 million on September 10 insisting the County is breaching their business agreement.
“Keep in mind, NCL has spent millions of dollars in a long-time effort to build a huge landfill Madison County does not need or want,” commented Farris. “Madison County and the tri-county region is one of the fastest growing areas in the state and enjoys strong economic growth. Why would it want to be the Landfill Capital of Mississippi? If for some reason the state needs another dump for long-term needs, then build it somewhere else.”
Supervisor David Archie closed the discussion saying this action by the Board “sends a very good message to those coming to Hinds County.”
