Yager urges TDEC not to permit landfill in Oneida
State senator states 'strong opposition' to proposed Roberta Phase II landfill in Scott County
NASHVILLE | State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, on Wednesday wrote a letter to TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation Commissioner David W. Salyers urging his agency not to permit a proposed landfill in Oneida.
Yager, one of the top-ranking lawmakers in Nashville and chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, told Salyers that he was writing “to name my strong opposition to this pending permit and expanding the landfill operation on that adjacent property.”
A group of investors from the Chattanooga and Atlanta areas, have proposed a landfill and nearby rail transfer station on 700 acres of property adjacent to the existing Volunteer Regional Landfill, which is owned by Waste Connections. The new landfill has generated considerable controversy and pushback from local government officials and residents alike. The governments of Scott County, Oneida, Winfield, Huntsville and McCreary County are united in their opposition to the proposal, while two citizen groups — Cumberland Clear and the Transparent Bridge Initiative — have been born in an effort to stop the landfill.
“The adverse impact to the major water source of Bear Creek, along with the appearance of making Scott County ‘landfill county’ is not in the best interest of my constituents and the communities that serve them,” Yager said. “Especially with Volunteer Regional Landfill in Scott County able to serve Scott County and surrounding communities for 24 years.”
TDEC permitted 24 acres of the property in question for a landfill in 2010, and is currently considering the re-certification of that permit to the pending new owners of the property. The agency is also considering an application for a transfer station off Poplar Lane along the Norfolk-Southern Railroad.
