•County commissioner was there to try to stop it

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

A regional landfill planned for the Green Swamp may have to find another home if legislation introduced last week makes it into law this week.

On Thursday, July 26, Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. introduced an amendment to the Waste Management Act of 2007 that essentially would stop developers from locating a 107-acre landfill on the 700 acres of land that an affiliate of Waste Management Inc. purchased off Highway 211 in Columbus County.

Soles’ amendment (which passed the Senate) would require all developers to meet new requirements in the bill, regardless of when developers applied for a permit. The landfill couldn’t be within a certain distance of a State park, game land or wetland. Land around the site is owned by the Nature Conservatory and leased by the state for game lands.

The next day (July 27) Columbus County Board of Commission Chairman Sammie Jacobs was at the Statehouse lobbying in opposition to Soles’ amendment. Jacobs, together with Greg Peverall, a lobbyist for Waste Management, spoke to Soles and other legislators urging them not to hinder the future development of the landfill.
Jacobs also spoke before the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
“I just went there to see what I could do to move things forward,” Jacobs said today (Monday).

When asked if he spoke on behalf of only himself, he replied: “No, not necessarily. I let them know what the board had committed to years ago.”

A member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, State Rep . Bonner Stiller of Oak Island in Brunswick County said he met with Peverall and Jacobs.

“I didn’t promise him anything,” Stiller said of Jacobs. “He was there speaking on behalf of Columbus County.”

Bonner said he understood that some members of the legislature represent areas that believe they need the ability to construct landfills but he is not familiar with the specifics of the proposal for Columbus County and he favors extending the moratorium.

Stiller said that his constituents would like to see the moratorium continued because of lingering concern about plans by Sims Hugo Neu for a landfill at Navassa in Brunswick County.

Stiller stressed to Jacobs that he does not represent Columbus County, but said he suggested to Jacobs that he might ask his legislative delegation for an exemption if the moratorium were continued, since the application for a landfill in Columbus County was made several years ago.

“That’s not saying I advocate for the dump in the Green Swamp,” Stiller said.
Rep. Dewey Hill has said: “Yes, we need a landfill but the Green Swamp is the worst possible place to put it.”

While Soles’ amendment passed with much support in the Senate, the measure still has a long way to go in a very short period of time in order to beat a statewide landfill moratorium set to expire Aug. 1. The House must approve the bill and in recent days has tossed around the possibility of extending the moratorium.

Meanwhile, Columbus County residents are left to wonder exactly what position the Board of Commissioners is taking on the issue.

Earlier this year, Commissioner Bill Memory said he wanted to possibly send a letter in support of tougher landfill regulations but feared the county could be held liable for doing so when there is a franchise agreement in place with the landfill developers.

“We have a host agreement and whether I like it or not, we are bound to that host agreement,” Memory said. “It looks like it would be in bad faith.”

Memory said Friday he wasn’t aware of Jacobs’ trip to the legislature. “I haven’t heard anything about it,” he said. ‘We have not asked any board member to go up there. We had some people at the Richmond (Va.) NaCCo conference but the board did not send anybody there (to Raleigh),” Memory insisted.

“If a commissioner wanted to do something on his own, that is totally up to him,” he added. “A motion for the chairman (to go on behalf of the board) would have to be made in open session.”

He said the entire board should vote for someone to lobby on behalf of the entire board.

Commissioner Ricky Bullard said he supported Soles’ amendment and was not aware that Jacobs went to Raleigh.

“I think if he was representing Columbus County, it should be known he was up there,” Bullard said.

“If a landfill was (coming) next to my home I would oppose it as well,” he said, pointing out that the county did need a landfill but he had concerns about a regional one.

“Although we are in need of money I don’t think that’s the right way to get revenue,” Bullard said.

“I was not aware Jacobs was there,” Commissioner Ronald Gore said. He pointed out he (Gore) had met with Waste Management officials “a number of times — probably three” and said they report there is “very little opposition to the landfill.”
Gore said Waste Management’s belief that the majority of residents support the landfill is misleading. He said he has spoken to several residents in his area and about half oppose it.

Gore said there is a lot he is still learning about the landfill and that the revenue would likely be good for Columbus County, but he still opposes the landfill for now.
Jacobs’ lobbying didn’t seem to bother Gore. He said he doesn’t know the specifics of the legal documents the county signed years ago and it may be Jacobs’ actions are on account of the agreement in place.

Commissioner Lynwood Norris said he knew Jacobs was in Raleigh, but commissioners had not met nor discussed any landfill action or a trip to Raleigh.
Attempts were made to reach Commissioner Amon McKenzie at his workplace and on his cell phone, but he could not be reached.

The landfill project in Columbus County was initiated by Riegel Ridge LLC, a subsidiary of Waste Management, in March 2000.

County records indicate that the original developers turned the project over completely to Waste Management a few years ago.

In March, the N.C. Division of Environment and Natural Resources, Waste Management Division, made recommendations, if passed into law, that would make the permitting process for landfills more costly and environmental protections more strict.

The project had not obtained a permit to construct or a permit to operate when a moratorium was imposed statewide last year. The company had jumped several other hurdles.

Prior to that, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers issued a permit allowing developers to fill in a two-thirds acre wetland at the location southwest of N.C. 211 at Roberts Road. Opposition from groups such as Friends of the Green Swamp emerged and the group unsuccessfully challenged a state water quality permit the developers had been issued.

With the blessings of five of seven Columbus County commissioners and promises of $1 million in county revenue, the project continued to move forward until state legislation would bring all landfill projects in the state to a halt.

That state moratorium on landfills is set to expire Aug. 1 (Wednesday).
(Lee Hinnant, news editor of The State Port Pilot, contributed to this story)