Decatur City leaders increase landfill capacity

DECATUR, Ala. (WAFF) - The Decatur City landfill now has a new daily cap on garbage, from taking in the max of 1,500 tons a day to 3,000.

City leaders were split on increasing the daily limit. According to Councilman Hunter Pepper, that could make the welcome sign even larger for out-towners to dump at a low rate.

“I had a company tell me probably 45 minutes ago that they go out of the way to come from Lawrence County, Limestone County, Madison County, just to come to our landfill because of how many tons they bring in on a day-to-day basis and how much of $1 amount of difference that makes on their budget,” said Councilman Pepper.

The concern for Pepper is running out of space. He believes the limit increase could cut the lifespan of the landfill in half as its currently projected to last around 21 more years.

Council president Jacob Ladner says there’s a possibility of adding 150 acres next to the current site for longevity.

“It’s kind of one of those things that people don’t even realize is out there unless they need it,” said Ladner, “But it’s critical infrastructure for the city. We need to lean on our engineers and even people we work with outside of City Hall to make sure we’re keeping up to date with what’s going on there at the landfill.”

Ladner believes sticking to the 3,000-ton limit is important because if the landfill happens to go over that, the city will have to pay a steep fine to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

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