Landfill public hearing time set

Published 10:47 pm Thursday, February 3, 2011

Conecuh County officials will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. March 10 at Reid State Technical College to discuss a proposed landfill near Repton.

Conecuh Woods LLC has submitted an application for a 5,100-acre piece of property located 6 miles north of I-65, off Alabama Highway 41. According to the company’s application, a maximum of 1,550 acres would be used for waste disposal, with much of the rest of the property used as buffer zones.

The application also states that the initial daily capacity of the landfill would be 300 to 500 tons per day, expanding to 5,000 tons per day within 10 years.

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Opponents of the landfill have been fighting the project for more than four years. At a Conecuh County Commission meeting late last month, a standing-room only crowd attended to hear from the company, although no decisions were made.

The county’s solid waste plan calls for a public hearing to be held within 45 days of the application. The solid waste plan also includes a set of criteria on which the application will be judged, although passing the criteria does not guarantee passage of the proposal.

Escambia County commissioners have passed a resolution stating opposition to the landfill. Area doctors have also signed a petition opposing the project, citing potential health problems for residents in the region.