Commission Approves Solid Waste Plan

Knowing just how much construction and demolition debris is being disposed of in Marshall County, Ala., is a key point in the county's solid waste plan.

Apparently, that exact figure isn't known yet.

Allen Murphree, an engineer with Engineering Service Associates of Birmingham, presented the plan to the commission in a public hearing Sept. 27, but commissioners pointed out that the 22 tons per day of construction and demolition debris listed in the plan wasn't correct.

Larry Beech of Marshall Recycling, the company that plans to start a recycling facility at the old Bishop Landfill site, said the figure is probably closer to 150 tons per day.

The number is important because there are possibly four groups, including the Albertville-Guntersville Metropolitan Solid Waste Authority, that are looking for a site to establish a construction and demolition debris landfill. The authority has looked at several sites, but hasn't found a suitable one, a member said.

The 10-year solid waste plan, overdue for an update, was approved by the commission with four changes: Determining the exact amount of construction and demolition debris, adding provisions for the emergency disposal of debris and guidelines for burning it, eliminating a reference to Bishop Landfill and adding written comments by Marshall County Solid Waste Officer Tommy Cole.

The reference to Bishop Landfill, which was in the Pleasant Grove community between Albertville and Guntersville, stated that the commission would seek some avenue to seeing it properly closed. District 1 Commissioner Charlie McClendon objected, seeing the statement as obligating the commission to pay for the closing.

"We don't want to be tied to any kind of commitment on that," Commission Chairman Billy Cannon said. "We don't want to shirk it, but that is a private enterprise."

The price tag for closing the landfill has been estimated at $3 million. Who will pay the cost is up in the air after the landfill couldn't get repermitted and its owner went bankrupt. The owner was supposed to post a financial bond with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management that would have paid for the closing, but he didn't do that. Gadsden (Alabama) Times