Columbus landfill experiences growing garbage problem
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The City of Columbus has a growing garbage problem. It’s not in the streets, but in the city-owned landfill.
The current landfill last expanded its borders in 2010; now, there’s no more room to grow, and the current space is near capacity.
At a work session today (Wednesday), City Engineer Kevin Stafford briefed the mayor and city council on the situation.
Based on calculations of tonnage and cubic footage, the landfill will be full in two years.
Stafford is asking the council to consider doing two things: Limit landfill access to Public Works, as private usage has been down over the past few years. And, recalibrate the area, get more precise measures to determine how much actual space is left.
Limiting access to Public Works could extend the life up to three to five years.
“We show that they have just under 2 years of life left. So, it’s kind of getting to decision time. We can no longer expand the boundaries, so do you move over to a new landfill, which takes time to build and permit? Or, do we do like a lot of local entities, like Lowndes County, Starkville, and Noxubee County? They now take all their rubbish to Golden Triangle Regional in West Point, you know, so that’s a decision for another day. Today was about letting the council know there are 2 years left,” said Stafford.
Closing the landfill could cost as much as $2 million.
