NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County Supervisors said they’re continuing to review what they can do in response to residents’ opposition to an oil-waste dump being planned in south Adams County.
However, supervisors noted it’s state environmental regulators’ call on whether the landfill gets permitted.
“They don’t have to go through the Board of Supervisors,” said board President Warren Gaines, who said supervisors have “no control over this landfill” that developers plan to seek the state Department of Environmental Quality’s permission to build.
Residents concerned about potential pollution have urged the board to enact a county zoning ordinance to prohibit the oil-waste dump. Gaines and other supervisors said they’re uncertain what they’ll do as they determine their legal authority. The county has no zoning regulations like what Natchez has to limit or prohibit the location of certain businesses or residences and how land is used.
However, county Supervisor Ricky Gray said today any industrial development that could “endanger the health and well-being of our citizens, we should have a say on that.”
Meeting with county supervisors, south Adams County resident Jack Stephens posed various questions about what the board will do and the process for DEQ permitting the landfill.
“That’s over the county’s head. Nobody on this board can give you a clear answer,” Gaines told Stephens.
The Shieldsboro Road property that developers envision for the dump is owned by county Supervisor Kevin Wilson, who’s in the oil business and has cited a need for such a facility to serve the oil industry in a five-state region. Wilson has stepped out of board meetings about the proposed landfill to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Government officials are prohibited from exerting undue influence in their public positions for personal financial gains.
About 15 miles south of Natchez along U.S. 61, Wilson’s property is located by Waste Management’s household trash dump, which has been permitted by DEQ since 1990. The St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge is also located nearby.
While the county board has no authority concerning the waste dump, supervisors would need to update the county’s emergency-response plan if the facility is actually built. That would be prompted by DEQ’s request, said Adams County Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford.
No application has been filed for the oil-waste facility, according to DEQ’s online records. The agency “is aware of the proposed project, but no permit application has yet been received,” DEQ Communications Director Jan Shaeffer said two weeks ago.
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