NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors are deadlocked on whether to block the oil waste dump that county board President Kevin Wilson wants to develop near Natchez.
They voted 2-2 Monday on Supervisor Ricky Gray’s push to deny the application by Wilson’s company that would help enable the facility to be built. Wilson has recused himself from board actions on the disposal facility because of his financial involvement.
Gray called for the vote to nip Wilson’s development in the bud before it goes before the state Department of Environmental Quality.
“We actually have the power to deny it at the local level if it’s not consistent with the (waste) plan we’ve already got in place,” said Gray, who was joined by Supervisor Angela Hutchins in voting against the waste dump.
Supervisor Wes Middleton and Supervisor Warren Gaines voted against Gray’s proposal. They said more time and information are needed before determining whether the oil disposal landfill is suitable for Adams County or a potential threat to the environment.
Gaines, who stressed he will “not vote for anything hazardous to our community,” got board members to agree on finding a “a neutral” environmental expert to assess Wilson’s plan and its impact on the environment.
Millicent Graning – who’s been publicly outspoken in expressing concerns about the proposed landfill potentially polluting the environment – attended Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, as she’s been doing regularly in recent months.
Graning has been asking Adams County supervisors to block the facility, which Wilson wants to develop on land he owns about 15 miles south of Natchez near U.S. 61 and the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge.
“I want to hear your side of it and the other side…. I want to get the full information,” Gaines told Graning as he explained his vote not to reject the facility now without a complete review.
Wilson got Graning arrested in March and convicted by a justice court judge for allegedly trespassing on the land he wants the facility to be located. She maintains she’s not guilty of the charge.
Wilson, who’s in the oil-drilling business, has cited a need for a disposal facility to take wastes generated by the oil-exploration industry in southern states. He has formed a company – Complete Oilfield Disposal – with two Louisiana-based partners to operate a nonhazardous waste treatment and disposal facility.
Adams County’s comprehensive waste disposal-management plan must be revised by the county board to include the oil waste dump before Wilson’s proposal can be reviewed by the state Department of Environmental Quality. That agency would have the final say on whether to permit its operations with state-imposed regulations.
A public hearing is to be held as part of the county board’s decision-making process on whether to revise its waste plan.
After supervisors tied 2-2 Monday on Gray’s motion to short-cut the process and deny the oil disposal company’s request, he criticized board attorney Scott Slover. Gray questioned Slover’s objectivity and complained he’s done legal research regarding laws impacting Wilson’s venture without supervisors’ permission. A motion to hire a substitute attorney for this case died with no vote by the supervisors.
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