WAYNESVILLE — Concerned citizens of Waynesville converged at Waynesville Primary School to discuss fighting back against the proposed landfill in their community.
Despite the overwhelming and devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, roughly 50 people or more turned out for the Monday, September 30 meeting. Some were still without power.
Head spokesman Stephen Smith said his goal is to get people organized in various ways to help combat the landfill from taking place.
“There are enough issues that can be addressed,” Smith said. “We, as a group of citizens, can work together and David can beat Goliath.”
Close to 10 years ago, landfill developers Brantley County Development Partners (BCDP) was looking at land near Scott’s BBQ restaurant with “plans of bringing in businesses” to help the county grow in the eastern portion.
They slowly worked their way with some of the former county commissioners to convince them that it would be a good idea to change the zoning.
The BCDP, according to Smith, recognized the county was disorganized, underfunded and vulnerable convincing former county commissioners the country manager it would be a good idea to change the zoning.
Current commissioners are doing what they can to try and stop it from happening.
Some of the issues addressed during Monday’s meeting included how the citizenry can properly coalesce (come together to form one mass or whole) and have teams with different assignments such as raising funds across several states.
Photo By JUSTIN HALL Stephen Smith
Other methods include raising awareness on different political levels in the states of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.
Four years ago, petitions from the citizens began and were taken to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in Atlanta in opposition. However, their voices were not heard.
Water in the area where the proposed landfill will be placed affects the Florida aquifer. Millions of people have wells drawing water from that particular aquifer.
This also pertains to half of the state of Georgia, the southeastern corner of South Carolina and a portion of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as all of the state of Florida.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey in 2017, the area for the landfill has the highest recharge area. Recharge means more water enters the Earth’s surface to refill the reservoirs of the Florida aquifer which supports wells, waters and streams. This would affect drinking water as well.
The EPD sent out information stating rainfall exceeding 36 inches in a landfill area poses the threat of putting 500,000 gallons of waste into adjoining streams, wells and rivers. The average rainfall in Brantley County is 51 inches.
Research such as this would help empower a class-action lawsuit by the citizens with additional funding from outside resources.
The Sierra Club, an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, is another proposed ally in the fight. For more than 130 years, Sierra Club has gathered millions of activists and volunteers to fight for the places, people, and planet we all love.
James Duncan, a concerned citizen, also spoke about the dangers of drinking contaminated water.
“Water has to be transported to a treatment plant,” Duncan said. “I don’t think anything that comes out of a dump is admissible for me to be drinking.”
Duncan also mentioned about the consequences of smoke from the landfill affecting the lives of children.
According to Duncan, Waynesville Primary School is a half a mile away from the landfill and children are at risk of breathing in the smoke and drinking the water. If that were to happen, future generations would also be at risk or not be around at all.
Other citizens who voiced their opinion at the meeting included Natalie Schmidt. She encouraged those at the meeting to think about locations outside of Brantley County such as Sea Island and St. Simons where their way of life could be potentially devastated by the landfill.
“Think about the impact on businesses,” Schmidt said. “If they’re concerned, they don’t want this happening in the water system. That domino effect is going to be really key.”
Smith also encouraged those who wish to be a part of their efforts to sign up and reach out to different news outlets, social media and even speaking to people on the street and in businesses to get the word out.
He also encouraged everyone to attend county commission meetings as another outlet for their voices to be heard.
“If we work together as a team, many hands make light work,” Smith said.
There was another meeting at Waynesville Primary School Monday (October 7).
