While one landfill in Madison County has been struck down by the Department of Environmental Quality another is trying to expand its current dumping grounds. But serious legal questions linger over if it鈥檚 done properly. Since 1986 the City of Canton has been operating this landfill off Soldier Colony Rd. Taking in non-hazardous waste from six different counties. To keep services up city leaders believe it鈥檚 time to grow but many legal checkpoints aren鈥檛 adding up in the necessary order.
The Canton landfill is reaching capacity with only a few years of life left pushing the city to file for a lateral expansion. 鈥淲e have about three years left and anytime you鈥檙e developing a landfill you need to plan for the future,鈥� Melon Garrett, Director of the Landfill told us.
鈥淚t is critically important for the citizens to know that in three years they鈥檒l be no place for them to put their garbage,鈥� Mayor William Truly Jr. added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the city along with the director is working extraordinarily hard to go on and build additional cells.鈥�
But first, the land must be properly zoned and per zoning laws. In Canton鈥檚 website鈥檚 most recent zone map, the property is listed as an industrial park. Meaning the dump only has to be 1,000 feet from residential areas. But MDEQ contradicted this when the expansion was first proposed.