Trash troubles coming to a head
It’ll be two years this July since state regulators ordered that Waste Management Inc. close its smelly Live Oak landfill, which remains the city’s only place to dump its trash.
Since then, Waste Management has gone to court twice to keep Live Oak open for business. And other waste companies have been scrambling after the big-money contract to dispose of the 237,000 tons of Atlanta trash that’s sent to Live Oak every year.
But the end is in sight. Two trials — one involving Waste Management and the other involving its biggest competitor, Brown-Ferris Industries — have recently wrapped up, and the city is beginning the process of picking Live Oak’s replacement should the landfill close at year’s end as ordered.
Here’s the latest.
On March 12, a Fulton County Superior Court judge denied Brown-Ferris’ request to build a transfer station for trash near the intersection of Marietta Boulevard and Bankhead Highway, across the street from the Bankhead MARTA station. The station would have been a garbage depot, meant to fill the void left by Live Oak’s closure. It would have temporarily held trash that piled up, and then would have it sent via train or 18-wheeler to landfills far outside the city.
Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board also shot down Brown-Ferris’ plans last October. Company officials haven’t yet decided if they’ll appeal, according to a spokeswoman.
On March 18, attorneys for Waste Management argued in Cobb County Superior Court to keep Live Oak landfill up and running. The hearing was Waste Management’s second appeal. Kasey Strum, an attorney with the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest who represents neighborhoods near Live Oak, said that the landfill is still a nuisance. Strum says she’s optimistic that the landfill will be shut down this year.
The judge will rule on the case by April 18.
Atlanta’s Public Works Department was scheduled to accept bids March 24 for the city’s trash contract. Brown-Ferris and Waste Management already have indicated they’ll go after the contract.
Brown-Ferris operates other transfer stations just outside city limits. Waste Management runs the Bolton Road landfill, and still holds out hope that Live Oak will remain open.
The city will award the contract by the end of April.