A boundary-marking error has left more than five acres of rubbish outside the permitted area at the Columbus landfill.
Now, Public Works Director Casey Bush says the error is cutting the landfill’s remaining expected lifetime in half.
Bush said rubbish has been deposited across a 4.2-acre area near the landfill’s southeast side, and a 1.1-acre area on the facility’s northeast side. Rubbish in the northeast area has already been moved back into the landfill proper, he said, and crews are working to remove material from the southeast area.
Bush said rubbish has been placed in the areas for at least eight years.
The landfill sits on land the city leases from the Moorehead Will Estate. Bush said the out-of-bounds rubbish was all deposited on land the city leases from the same owner that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality had not certified for dumping.
Bush said the landfill probably exceeded the proper area due to an error from when boundaries were being set. He said MDEQ sets the boundaries for the landfill, with surveying from Neel-Schaffer. In this case, he said boundaries may have been set incorrectly without the land being surveyed.
MDEQ later discovered the error and informed the city.
“When MDEQ found out about that, they wanted us get that back into the permitted area,” Bush said.
Mark Williams, and administrator for MDEQ’s solid waste program, said he’s not sure how the rubbish exceeded the landfill’s boundaries.
He said the city would normally set boundaries and request a survey at the beginning of the lifespan.
“At some point in the past history of the landfill, these boundary markers may have been destroyed by equipment or something happened,” he said. “They were reestablished, but apparently they were not properly reestablished. Now, I don’t know who did that. I can’t say who did that. It may be that Neel-Schaffer didn’t survey them, or they were originally surveyed and when they were replaced they were not surveyed.
“At this point, trying to figure out how that happened doesn’t really have much benefit,” Williams added. “I think it’s really more how we correct it.”
The Dispatch could not reach city engineer and Neel-Schaffer Vice President Kevin Stafford, for comment by press time.
Williams said there are typically two options to fix when a landfill’s rubbish goes beyond the permitted area — make the affected area a permitted one, or move the rubbish back into the landfill, as Columbus has. He said MDEQ has worked closely with the city for the past few months to help rectify the problem.
Williams also noted that it can be difficult to tell when rubbish has exceeded landfill boundaries. He said that’s especially true for landfills like Columbus’ that use soil as a natural liner.
“That’s why these boundary markers are extremely important,” Williams said. “And it’s sometimes difficult for us, because our field offices do the primary inspections for these facilities. A field person out of the Oxford office is going to come down to Columbus and do that inspection, and she’s not going to have all the engineering designs with her when she’s out there.”
Other factors can also make it difficult to keep track of landfill boundaries. Williams said MDEQ allowed the city to deposit storm rubbish outside of the permitted area, for example. However, he said that was only meant as a temporary measure.
Shortened lifespan
Two years ago, Bush said, MDEQ allowed the city to pile rubbish up to 30 feet high in the landfill. He said at the landfill was nearing capacity at the time, and the allowance afforded the facility about six more years.
On Thursday, Bush said the landfill only has about two years’ worth of capacity left, rather than the four that should be expected at this point, due to out-of-bounds rubbish deposits returning to the smaller permitted area.
Storms, such as one that spawned a tornado in New Hope in April, also shortened the landfill’s lifespan because the city allowed people to dump storm debris in the landfill.
Bush said the city is already considering additional space options. He said there’s more land around the landfill that the city can expand to, with permission from MDEQ. That’s the most likely option, Bush said.
However, Bush said the city could look to an entirely new location.
“That’s probably going to take more money and time,” he said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.