Landfill bill would add more protection to natural areas

A bill in the General Assembly that was still being debated at presstime may doom the Riegel Ridge regional landfill planned for the Green Swamp south of Bolton.

County commissioners approved the Riegel Ridge landfill eight years ago following a recommendation by a citizens’ solid waste committee. The issue has been the subject of contentious debates since.

The final version of the bill specifically would prevent new landfills from being sited near streams, game lands, state parks and national wildlife refuges. Riegel Ridge would not qualify because it is near a state-designated game land.

Sen. R.C. Soles led the conference committee between the two chambers to bring a final version to the House and Senate for a vote just before midnight last night.

The bill passed a second reading, primarily due to concern that eastern North Carolina may become a dumping ground for out-of-state garbage. North Carolina is halfway along the eastern seaboard, and land is cheap in places like the Green Swamp and the proposed 3-million-tons-a-year landfill in Camden County. Riegel Ridge would have accepted trash from a 100-mile radius. The Camden landfill had no limits and would have accepted garbage from locations like New York City.

The Riegel Ridge landfill had already passed many environmental standards established by state and federal regulatory agencies, but other regulatory reviews are still pending. The county would receive an estimated $1 million a year in revenues from Waste Management for hosting the landfill.

Despite the need for more landfill space, the House and Senate acted to protect natural resources. Here, proximity to new game lands would prevent the landfill’s construction, although protection of Lake Waccamaw is also a primary concern of landfill opponents. The mega-landfill in Camden County is near a national wildlife refuge.

Another virtue of the bill is a surcharge that would fund clean-ups of old landfills and encourage recycling.

The state still must find ways to deal with its ever-growing waste stream, but adding another level of protection to sensitive, natural areas intended for the public’s enjoyment would be the best thing to come from this bill, should it pass.

Editors note: a third and final reading and vote of the bill wasn’t completed at presstime, but the final result will be posted on whiteville.com as soon as the vote is finalized.