Citizens fighting against site of proposed landfill

A group of citizens met with the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 20. Click here to read the full story in the Daily Corinthian.

Open Letter to the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors

We, as a community, know that you as supervisors inherited the landfill mess – just as we did. Nevertheless, it is a mess – and we will have to work together to clean it up. – Know that we are willing to do whatever is necessary to help you find an alternate location. But also know that we will accept no alternative that includes leaving it in the planned location.

Besides the natural and emotional instinct to not want a landfill in this location, there are good business and public safety reasons to find another site.

First among these are the Transportation issues. This is an issue that will affect every voter, citizen, young and old person in Alcorn County. To access the proposed landfill site, traffic will be routed down some of the worst roads in Alcorn County and you will be putting anyone who is not used to traveling them in jeopardy, plus adding to the danger for those who already travel them on a daily basis. There is simply no good transportation route into this location.

• Henson-Purdy School Road is a narrow, hilly, pot-holed road whose access from the East, South, and North Side of the county and Highway 45 begins with a railroad track without warning lights or bars and has poor visibility. One-car accidents happen on a regular basis on this road. Imagine the slaughter once you increase the number of times two cars or big trucks meet on this road.

• Forrest School Road is no better. While it does not have a railroad track, it too is hilly and full of potholes. It has several sharp curves that have required the residents to build barricades to keep vehicles from slamming into their homes. Again, imagine meeting big trucks on a regular basis on this road. Barricades won’t be big enough.

• Wenasoga Road, also extremely curvy and hilly has two railroad tracks to cross before getting to the site. While it is smoother in many locations than the others, it is not designed for this type of traffic.

• Holly Church Road and the road across Tuscumbia Bottom are the two natural routes in from the West side of the county. Both will require crossing the railroad track and both aren’t designed for this type of traffic. Even more importantly, the Tuscumbia Bottom road will run right through the Wildlife Management area and unfortunately, many people will stop there and dump instead of coming all the way out, creating open dumps that can’t be monitored or stopped.

• None of the roads are designed for the constant assault done when repeatedly traveled by garbage trucks and dump trucks loaded with tons of waste and construction debris. Road repair costs, if done at all, will escalate, as will the insurance rating and premium costs for the number of accidents caused by this situation. The eventual cost to the county and its citizens will greatly outweigh any current benefit.

The distance away from most of the county is the second reason the selected site is not a good location. A person can’t go any further North and still be in Mississippi if traveling to this site. Those in the south, west, and east sections of the county will be required to drive a long way to dispose of their trash. Combine that with the price of gasoline, diesel, and the poor roads to get there, and again, you will find open dumping becoming more prevalent in the county.

Third, the geological make-up of the property is questionable. A large stream runs through the middle of the property that feeds the water sources downstream for miles. It sits in the 100 year floodplain and will require expensive stabilization, if it can be done, to render it suitable for this application. Further study will show that only a very small portion of the land may be marginally suitable for a landfill and that will only solve the problem for the short-term. Surely, an alternate site can be found that will provide a cheaper, longer-term solution.

Fourth, there is an ‘active’ cemetery in the Northeast corner of the property with over 150 graves. The deed has a restriction giving the families the use of the property for access and other uses. How respectful will it be to those families to say good-bye to their loved ones with the roar of bulldozers 20 feet away with dust and litter blowing across the burial ceremony?

Fifth, the deed itself is questionable. Twelve years ago, we questioned the legality of the purchase. We did not pursue that any further at the time because we were told the land would be sold. However, there are still many unresolved questions that will need to be reviewed judicially if this moves forward.

There are many other business and public safety reasons why putting a landfill at this location is a bad decision – not just for the citizens of Wenasoga, but for the citizens of Alcorn County. We are not just taking a ‘not in my backyard’ stand, although admittedly we feel that way. The site is surrounded by our homes. There are over 100 homes within a half mile of the property, many which join it and surround it.

We, as a community, were not just promised, we were told and it was clearly published in the newspaper that the landfill would not be put in this location and the land would be sold. When it wasn’t sold, we were told that the dirt would be hauled from it to use for county projects and no landfill would ever be placed there. Our current supervisor also told us any action to make it a landfill had been rescinded and that it would only be used for the first district barn.

Now, we are being told that the other supervisors did not know it was a controversial issue and they are out of time for options. Somewhere the Wenasoga community lost our voice in this – but rest assured we are here now and we will no longer be silent.

Our families’ lives and futures have been put in jeopardy. While some will only travel these roads and pass this site occasionally, we will face it everyday – our teenagers and elderly will face these monsters on roads that weren’t designed for this traffic.

This landfill will be managed by the same person or persons who brought you the mess at Farmington – if they can’t manage that – and they’ve proven they can’t – why should we believe they will manage this one better. We, too have a cemetery located in this site, with living survivors who still bury their family there. Will they be shown the same lack of respect the paupers’ graves were shown? We pray not.

Supervisors lose elections and move on – never bothering to look back at those they destroyed by careless actions or petty revenge, but our only choices are to leave it, live with it, or fight it. To protect our families and our homes, we must fight it.

History repeatedly demonstrates anytime a decision is made because the government thinks they are out of time and it is their only option – it’s usually the wrong one. This is too sensitive a situation to rush into without much forethought and soul-searching. It is also too dangerous a situation for the citizens of Alcorn County and Wenasoga to rush into without all the facts and data. No one’s life should be put in jeopardy because of a piece of trash.

Supervisor Meeting 5/17/2008

First District Supervisor Keith Fields hosted a meeting at the First District Barn on Forrest School Road in Wenasoga on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 4 p.m.

Topic of discussion? The proposed landfill.

In the meantime, feel free to Sound Off to the Daily Corinthian by clicking here.

Landfill Proposed

The Tuesday, May 6, 2008 edition of The Daily Corinthian reports that the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors has approved preliminary actions to place a landfill on Forrest School Road. Read the story here.