Letter to the Editor – Charlie McNair

Thomas Jefferson once said, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”

And that is where we are today. Things have gone so far wrong on this landfill issue that we, as residents of Alcorn County, feel compelled to set them right. Why? Because some of our supervisors – and I say ‘our’ because we elected them to represent ‘our’ best interests – appear to have disregarded a whole segment of our community and have refused to listen to our concerns about the proposed landfill site on Forrest School Road.

The road conditions alone should’ve been enough to stop the process, but add the traffic issues, its location in a residential area, the soil make-up, and the proximity to a large creek, and the reasonable person would deduce this location is a bad choice and would stop pursuing it. However, for no other reason than they own the land, our Board continues to force this bad decision upon us, leaving us no other choice but to try to set things ‘to rights’.

To do this, we have begun circulating a petition that would put restrictions on the location of new landfills in this county. We feel no one should have to face the worries our community has. Reasonable people know you shouldn’t place a new landfill within a residential area or near a church, school, or cemetery. Reasonable people know you shouldn’t place a new landfill where the road conditions won’t support it or you have no way to mitigate the traffic risks. But, since it appears reasonable people aren’t making reasonable decisions, we are forced to try and set things ‘to rights’ on behalf of all the people.

Over the next couple of weeks, someone may ask you to sign this petition. It states no new solid waste facility (landfill) should be placed within .5 mile of a home (unless the homeowner consents), a church, school, licensed nursing home or hospital, licensed day-care center or cemetery, or where the anticipated traffic creates a safety risk within 5 miles of the site. These are reasonable expectations for the placement of any new landfill and there are plenty of locations within this county that meet these requirements – if an effort is made to find them.

Thomas Jefferson also said, ‘Our principles are founded on the immovable basis of equal right and reason.’ Please sign this petition to help us rebalance rights and reason and ensure all communities have the right to choose NOT to live next to a landfill.

Charlie R. McNair
5 CR 716
Corinth, MS 38834
662-287-3066

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