The landowner who requested an Amite County solid waste amendment to allow a landfill on his property said he’s uncertain what his next move will be after Amite supervisors voted 5-0 against his request.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Don Alford said Thursday. “I haven’t decided.”
The next step in the legal process would be to appeal to chancery court. If the court approves it, Alford would next have to get permits from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality before he could begin any kind of landfill operation.
Alford said he was disappointed that the standing room-only crowd at the public hearing in the Liberty courthouse interrupted with jeers when his geological expert was speaking.
“They were very unruly when my people were speaking,” Alford said. “They wouldn’t let us tell the science on the thing.”
Geology expert Ross Williams gave a PowerPoint presentation on landfills and why he said Alford’s land was considered an ideal place for one, but much of the audience could not see the video screen.
At several points, there were jeers and boos from the crowd that was solidly against the landfill.
“I didn’t think I was given the chance to explain my side like they said I could,” Alford said, adding that he understood there would be a bailiff present to make sure proceedings were not interrupted. “We didn’t get to give our presentation. We were given the time, but there were reasons we couldn’t get it done in that time.”
Alford said he paid $2.5 million for the 555-acre tract of piney woods land, which he has had for sale since 2002. He bought it in the late 1990s as part of 8,000 acres being auctioned by the Central Lumber Trust.
“It was a timber deal, and I picked this section; it had what we wanted,” Alford said of the site near the Mars Hill community in northern Amite County. “I never missed a note, even when I wasn’t drawing a paycheck.”
The landfill would have operated on a 195-acre section of that land. The main objection from citizens was that the land straddles the headwaters of two river systems — the Tangipahoa and the East Fork of the Amite.
Alford still believes his land would be ideal for a landfill and is certain it would be safe, given its geological makeup. He does acknowledge that it may not be necessary right now.
“All I know is that the geology that nobody would listen to is perfect. If it ain’t me, it will be somebody else,” Alford said. “Garbage isn’t an issue right now. I’m talking three or four years down the road. One day they’ll realize it might be the right thing.
“This is the American way,” Alford said. “I’m kind of upset about it. I felt like I was done wrong. But, we can agree to disagree. It just is what it is.”
Alford said he’s committed to running his business, Amite Poles and Piling, in Gloster.
“Ninety percent of my business is in New Orleans,” Alford said of the building conditions in the city that is below sea level.
He said he makes the drive to New Orleans from Gloster all the time, and it’s more than 130 miles. He said the 100-mile radius that was proposed for accepting waste for the landfill would be too far from New Orleans.
“I’m just trying to take care of my family. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve had an Amite Poles and Piling shirt on. I’m not trying to hide from anybody,” Alford said. “I’m not mad at anybody. I don’t get to make the rules, I just have to live by them. I’m going to be fine and my family is going to be fine.”
He pointed out, however, that not only have some people been turkey hunting on his land, there is evidence that they’ve been on his place on horses finding where the monitoring well sites were.
“That’s trespassing,” Alford said.
