IMPORTANT!! We need Residents to submit new comments about the new landfill addition by February 4th and the 19th! Ask your neighbors and your friends to submit comments to billbrock9000@gmail.com
What: The Central TN Solid Waste Regional Planning Board is meeting again to collect more information about the question of whether or not to revise their earlier vote as per judge’s orders.
Where: City of Murfreesboro Airport Business Center
When: Tuesday, February 8th at 6:00PM and again Thursday, February 24th at 6:00PM
Announcement URL: https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3649
How You Can Help:
We need you to describe your experiences with the Middle Point Landfill and express your views on the new landfill proposal. Please be concise and respectful.
1. Submit comments to Chairman Bill Brock: billbrock9000@gmail.com
2. Submit a Request to Speak at the Public Meetings.
3. Submit Comments to Local Media Outlets and Elected Officials.
4. Ask Friends & Neighbors to Submit Comments.
Submit a request to speak at these meetings if you did not previously speak at last summer’s hearings.
How to submit:
The request is submitted in writing or electronically;
The request briefly describes the reason for the request made to the Board.
The request includes the information to add or subtract from the record.
The request is delivered by NOON on Friday, February 4th, 2022 by either email to Chairman Bill Brock billbrock9000@gmail.com, or by mail or in-person delivery to:
Rutherford County Mayor, Attn: CTRSWPB, County Courthouse
One Public Square, Room 101, Murfreesboro, TN 37130
The request includes contact information for the person regarding the request.
Tell your friends! We know everyone hates the landfill, make sure they know about these hearings.
Contact local media! Send them your thoughts, write an op-ed, call into local radio shows, and let everyone know you oppose the new landfill proposal.
Attend the hearings! Whether or not you plan on speaking, come to the hearings. We’ll all be wearing green to support one another.
Members of many groups in the area will be showing up to both attend the meetings and to make our presence known with signs and numbers!
Groups that are supporting and/or participating include Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Stop the SuperDump, Rutherford Neighborhood Alliance (RNA), Stones River Watershed Association, Tennessee RiverKeepers, Sierra Club, United Campus Workers (MTSU’s campus worker union), and MTSU student groups Students for Environmental Action, Young Democratic Socialists of America, and the Student Government Association.
Some Background:
In 2018, the Rutherford County Commission unanimously shot down a proposal to expand the landfill called ‘Middle Point 2.0’. Since then, Republic has been on the charm offensive, donating to local schools’ sports programs, and attempting to present themselves as a good community partner and an environmentally-focused company. In the winter of 2021, Republic submitted a proposal to increase the acreage of land used for landfill activity by nearly double the current site’s size. Concurrently, the odors from the landfill have never been stronger or more present than they have been over the past year or two.
The Central TN Regional Solid Waste Planning voted unanimously to recommend that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) deny Republic Services’ request. Republic sued the Regional Board, and a judge has ordered the board to revisit their vote and consider new evidence surrounding the issue. That evidence includes the collection of odor complaints that the City of Murfreesboro has collected from citizens, as well as information the city uncovered regarding illegal dumping of aluminum wastes. These wastes can lead to underground fires and are known to heat up landfills, causing odors and toxic gasses to be emitted at higher rates than normal.
Talking Points:
The landfill puts the environmental quality of our community at risk: Air and water quality (both groundwater and surface) are at risk from pollutants escaping the landfill, adding new landfill will only exacerbate this risk!
The smell: The odors that are coming from the landfill are noxious and lower quality of life! They are unpleasant and are likely affecting the health of people living in our community!
Community health impacts: A pilot study done by medical doctor Sylvia Onyensoh with assistance from SOCM found statistically significant links between proximity to the landfill and negative health problems including respiratory issues.
Depresses property value: The presence of the landfill so close to the city of Murfreesboro and the community of Walter Hill is a risk to property values! Our citizens are at risk of losing one of their largest investments because of pollution and odor problems! If new land is converted to landfill, this will only get worse.
We can’t trust Republic: The company illegally blasted for rock without proper permits. The request to TDEC for the conversion of more land to be made landfill was made with zero communication to the city or county.
We can’t trust Republic 2: The company has a history of dumping illegal materials at Middle Point (radioactive medical waste and aluminum waste for starters). They also have a record of safety and regulation violations at the Middle Point facility, including leachate issues. They have a history of similar poor management at other facilities, some of which are now designated EPA Superfund sites.
We can’t trust Republic 3: They have a history of using astroturf techniques (fake grassroots efforts) including going so far as to lie to citizens by impersonating EPA employees! (see the Teamsters report linked below)
Allowing new land to be converted to landfill isn’t consistent with our long-term solid waste plans: As discussed in the Regional Board’s recommendation to TDEC, new landfill isn’t the solution our communities have planned for. We need expanded recycling and composting, not more landfill!
Money: Rutherford County gets between $800k-$1.2 million per year from Republic services in compensation for operating Middle Point, yet the company made nearly $1 billion in profit last year. We’re getting screwed on this deal, so why would we trust them with a new, larger landfill?
Further Info:
An op-ed written in the Murfreesboro Voice discussing the problem of aluminum wastes:
https://www.murfreesborovoice.com/article/5641/whats-up-with-the-landfill-stink
Some background information on how Republic has behaved in the past at other sites they control. Among other things, it was determined that a group funded by Republic was impersonating EPA officials in phone calls to citizens:
https://teamster.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/42214republicservicestoxicreportfinal.pdf
The City of Murfreesboro is supporting the Regional Board in their lawsuit, and also pursuing a legal challenge centered around Tennessee’s Jackson Law. This law states that any new landfill in the state must be approved by popular vote before it can be allowed to operate. The city is arguing that because the proposed land is within a third of a mile of city limits, it falls under their jurisdiction. Republic is arguing that this is not a new landfill, it’s an expansion. However, the city believes that because the proposed land is not currently zoned for landfill use, it should be considered a new landfill.
TN State Representative Bryan Terry (R 48) has submitted a bill to the legislature that would require major modifications to existing landfill facilities to be subject to the same Jackson Law procedures.