NATCHEZ, Miss. – An outspoken opponent of the proposed oilfield waste dump south of Natchez has presented Adams County supervisors with an engineering professor’s report saying the landfill is not needed and could harm the environment.
Supervisors have been saying for months they need more information and expert advice before deciding whether to permit the facility being planned by a company co-owned by county Supervisor Kevin Wilson.
Millicent Graning – who’s been urging the Board of Supervisors to block the waste dump – on Monday gave the board the report written by Mississippi State University environmental engineering professor Dennis Truax.
The report comes after county supervisors last month discussed plans to hire a Baton Rouge environmental consulting firm to advise them as they decide what to do about the proposed oilfield waste dump. However, no action has been taken by supervisors on contracting the engineering firm, board attorney Scott Slover said Monday.
County supervisors are weighing whether to make the oil-dumping site part of Adams County’s comprehensive waste plan – a prerequisite before state environmental regulators can determine whether the facility can actually be permitted to operate.
Truax says there’s little or no need for what the Wilson-owned company – Complete Oilfield Disposal – is planning, according to Graning. As determined by Truax, the company’s plans also lack sufficient details on what environmental safeguards would be in place if the landfill does dispose oil waste.
Wilson, who’s in the oil-drilling business, wants governmental permission to operate the waste disposal facility on land he owns about 15 miles south of Natchez near U.S. 61 and the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge. He has cited a need for a landfill to take waste generated by the oil-exploration industry in southern states. He’s also pointed to the revenues it would generate for Adams County.
Wilson’s company filed an application in March asking the Board of Supervisors to revise Adams County’s comprehensive waste disposal-management plan to include the oil waste dump. This is required before Wilson’s proposal can be reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Quality, which has the final say on whether it can be permitted to operate.
The four other county supervisors the past eight months have wrangled over this and heard public opposition to the waste dump. They deadlocked 2-2 in May on a motion to reject the Wilson-owned company’s application. Supervisors Warren Gaines and Wes Middleton said they need more details about the waste-disposal operation and its environmental impact before deciding whether to incorporate it in Adams County’s overall waste plan. Supervisors Ricky Gray and Angela Hutchins voted against the waste facility.
Wilson has stepped out of board meetings in recent months as colleagues discussed his business venture that was made public in October. Ethics laws forbid public officials from participating in government actions that could financially benefit them directly.
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