The Columbia Board of Aldermen is investigating options to replace the current city landfill located on Airport Road.
It must be closed by Dec. 31, 2018, as part of the runway expansion at the Columbia-Marion County Airport. Land acquisitions for the project have begun and the extended runway should be in place by 2019. The landfill is located in a buffer zone just east of the runway.
Engineer Jeff Dungan said Tuesday that the city can either establish a rubbish-waste processing facility on Mississippi 586 near Foxworth or locate a Class I rubbish disposal facility in an existing gravel pit on Columbia-Purvis Road.
He spoke about the current landfill situation.
“We’re operating with an expired Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality permit,” he said. “The permit expired in December and we’re operating with the permission of the DEQ. It is estimated that the closure of the current landfill will cost around $75,000 and take 180 days to complete. The idea is to put the land back into grassland.”
Dungan told the Board during its Tuesday meeting that he had been working with Trent Jones from DEQ on options and offered two solutions.
The current landfill is 4.3 miles from the center of the city and costs around $160,000 to operate, according to figures provided by Dungan. It takes in about 2,500 tons per year consisting of 80 percent vegetative debris, 10 percent concrete and metal and 10 percent non-recyclables.
Option 1 is to put a rubbish-waste processing facility at the current solid waste transfer site on Mississippi 586 near Foxworth. The facility is on six acres and is 5.5 miles from the city center. The annual cost of operation is estimated to be $125,000. With planning and construction costs estimated at $60,000. Dungan said it would take approximately 180 days to construct the site.
“You would be using additional acreage at the current transfer facility,” he said. “It would have much better access than you do currently. This facility would separate and reduce recyclable wastes on site prior to disposal or reuse of the reduced materials. Any non-reducible or non-recyclable wastes would be disposed of at the adjacent solid waste transfer station or hauled to a permitted disposal facility.”
The second option, placing a Class I rubbish disposal facility in the gravel pit on Columbia-Purvis Road, would be on about 40 acres and is 8.5 miles from the city center. The annual cost to operate would be the same as the current landfill site, approximately $160,000. The site would also require an MDEQ permit and could cost up to $300,000 to construct. It would likely take a year for the project to be completed.
“Obviously, Option 1 is cheaper,” Dungan told the Board. “Your best option is probably to go with the processing facility.”
The Board will mull the options before making a decision soon.
The Columbia Board of Aldermen meets next in regular session at 4 p.m. on Sept. 19 at City Hall.
