Putnam County Commissioners unanimously approved an expansion of the county landfill Monday night, a move commissioners said could extend the facility’s remaining capacity by another 20 to 30 years.
The full commission approved opening an additional cell at the county’s Class 3/4 landfill by a 24-0 vote. The facility accepts construction and demolition waste and other permitted materials rather than ordinary household garbage.
Commissioners said closing the local facility would not eliminate the waste but would instead require the county to transport the material elsewhere.
“When a landfill closes, the waste does not disappear, we simply have to transport it somewhere else and taxpayers pay for that,” a commissioner said. “Putnam County already transports our municipal or household waste elsewhere for disposal at considerable expense.”
Residents raised concerns before the vote about the county’s management of the existing landfill, environmental monitoring and debris leaving the property. Resident Ryan Carlyle told commissioners the county should address problems at the existing facility before expanding it.
“If we cannot demonstrate that we are properly managing what we already have, how can we justify asking for more?” Carlyle said.
Commissioners addressed the landfill’s compliance history before voting. One commissioner said Putnam County received notices of noncompliance from the state in 2021 and again this year, but said the county took corrective action.
“No fines were issued to us because of that, but we were expected to take corrective action and we did that,” the commissioner said.
Another commissioner said the landfill has been inspected by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 90 times during the past 12 years. The commissioner said problems identified by the state were corrected and contractors were changed.
“So those are the types of problems that we’ve had, we corrected them quickly and we put new things in place to take care of the issues, specifically with contractors,” the commissioner said.
Groundwater monitoring also became a focus of the discussion. A commissioner said February samples were taken from three monitoring wells, including two downhill from the landfill and one uphill. The commissioner said six inorganic substances were detected above the laboratory’s practical quantitation limit, but none exceeded maximum contaminant levels specified by the Tennessee Division of Water Supply. None of the 47 organic substances tested were above the practical quantitation limit.
“So what does it mean?” the commissioner said. “It means there’s no significant leaching from Putnam County landfill and any significant leaching because of the sampling frequency would be detected before it became a problem.”
Commissioners said keeping construction and demolition disposal capacity in Putnam County avoids the additional expense of transporting the material elsewhere.
The commission approved the expansion 24-0.
In other business, the commission approved the sale of a 2023 Ford F-350 transit van and a 2018 Ford F-450 via internet auction. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall will arrive at the fairgrounds Thursday for a 10:00 AM opening ceremony and will remain open to the public through Sunday.