The Adams County board is being asked to block the oil waste landfill being planned by county Supervisor Kevin Wilson.
“If y’all vote against this, that is the end of it,” said Millicent Graning, a nearby resident opposed to the waste dump being permitted on land Wilson owns near U.S. 61 in south Adams County.
“I don’t think Adams County wants to be the dumping ground for seven states,” Graning told the county Board of Supervisors on Monday.
No applications have been submitted yet for the county and state permits required for the disposal facility, but Graning asked Wilson’s four fellow supervisors to nip his business venture in the bud.
Adams County’s waste disposal management plan must be revised by the board to include the oil waste dump before Wilson’s proposal can be reviewed by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for approval.
Board of Supervisors’ attorney Scott Slover said the county’s comprehensive waste plan must be changed if the oil landfill is to be allowed. It’s uncertain if the facility can be disallowed before the developers actually ask the board to add their facility into the county plan. Supervisors on Monday asked Slover to do more research on the waste disposal permitting laws
Any revisions to the county waste management plan would require public input and a hearing before supervisors decide whether to approve or disapprove the oil waste dump.
Graning told the county board Monday that work appears to be already underway to prepare Wilson’s property for the landfill. While developers can do construction work there without county permission, Slover noted, any disposal operations can’t be done without the necessary government permits.
Wilson, who’s in the oil business, has cited a need for such a disposal facility to take wastes generated by the oil-exploration industry in the southern region. Wilson formed his new company – Complete Oilfield Disposal – in January 2023 with two Louisiana-based partners to operate the nonhazardous waste treatment and disposal facility, according to business records filed with the Mississippi secretary of state’s office.
Graning and others have been regularly attending Adams County board meetings in recent months seeking information and asking supervisors to enact measures to prevent what they fear will be an environmentally threatening waste dump.
Wilson’s land is about 15 miles south of Natchez by U.S. 61 near the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge on Shieldsboro Road. It’s also by the Plantation Oaks landfill that buries household trash from city and county residences.
The oilfield waste disposal plans became public in October, when one of Wilson’s business partners came before the Adams County board to discuss the plans. Wilson has since stepped out of county board meetings about the proposed landfill to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Government officials are prohibited from using their public positions and exerting undue influence for personal financial gains.
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