Approval was given by the district's solid waste management board Wednesday to an ordinance requiring that all waste created within Mississippi county be disposed of at the county landfill. Per the recommendation of county judge Randy Carney, the move will be passed on to the quorum court's solid waste and sanitation committee for approval by the full court at their next meeting.
Dennis Burks of the East Arkansas Planning and Development District, who was visiting the board, said the move was a smart one.
"It's getting more and more important that if you have a landfill you also have a source of maintaining revenue," he said. "You need a guaranteed revenue stream. You could have some pushback from industries who may have contracts with other suppliers to take their waste elsewhere, but that's why you have this board. You have the power to limit it to residential waste only or residential, commercial, and industrial; or you could make it all waste, with exceptions needing to come before the board. If companies have outside contracts you'll have to work it out with them to finish them up."
Jason Osborne from the agricultural extension office also spoke to the board, sharing a new idea for how to comply with composting regulations.
"We found a case study from New Jersey that explains that yard waste can be mulched and dispersed on agricultural land," he said, "it's being tried in Marion, they have a vacuum truck that sucks the leaves up and mulches them. I don't know what it would cost to build a mulching facility to comply with Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality regulations, but this could alleviate those issues. It works because leaves come in the fall and no crops go in during the fall. The farmer gets the benefit, it loosens and builds up the soil, and on sandy soil it can really help build up organic matter over the course of several years."
Board representatives from Osceola said that they have a truck to pick up leaves, as well as a grinder to mulch them, but they would find it difficult to find a farmer willing to participate in the program. The district's other communities would need the proper equipment before they could institute such a plan. A subcommittee was formed to investigate equipment costs and the possibility of farmers willing to participate.
The board also approved the district's 2012 audit, along with a waste tire plan presented by Burks, who said that within the district, approximately 250,000 tires a year are collected.
Recycling coordinator Missy Langston reported that the cities of Gosnell, Osceola, Manila and Etowah are all now participating in recycling with drop-off trailers, and that approximately $37,000 in grant money for recycling programs is available this year. Communities who want some of that money to develop their recycling programs must have applications turned in by Aug. 15.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com