NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors are planning to contract a Baton Rouge environmental consulting firm to advise them as they decide whether to help accommodate a commercial oilfield waste dump that county Supervisor Kevin Wilson wants to operate south of Natchez.
Meeting today with the county board, its attorney said he expects to have a contract outlining what the company will do and the costs for supervisors to approve later this month. Scott Slover said the firm requested its name not be publicly revealed until the contract is finalized.
County supervisors are weighing whether to make the planned dump 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.
Wilson, who’s in the oil-drilling business, co-owns a company that’s seeking 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 wastes generated by the oil-exploration industry in southern states. He’s also pointed to the revenues it would generate for Adams County.
Wilson has stepped out of Board of Supervisors’ meetings in recent months as his colleagues discussed his planned business venture that was made public in October. Ethics laws forbid public officials from involving themselves in government decisions which they could directly benefit from financially.
Wilson formed a company – Complete Oilfield Disposal – with two Louisiana-based partners to build and operate a nonhazardous waste treatment and disposal facility.
His company filed an application in March asking the board 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 seven 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 Ricky Gray and Angela Hutchins voted against the waste facility. Supervisors Warren Gaines and Wes Middleton said they need more details about the waste-disposal operation and the environmental impact before deciding whether to incorporate it in Adams County’s overall waste plan.
After the Baton Rouge environmental consultants make their assessments for the supervisors, a county board hearing is expected to inform the public and get input before supervisors make a final decision.
John Mott – Kevin Wilson had a prior business in Jefferson County that was shut down by the EPA for environmental violations. Apparently he and Slover have been or current business partners.
I don’t trust Scott Slover to find an independent environmental consulting firm without naming the name before the contract is signed sealed and delivered.
I hope it is not PPM Consulting who was paid to promote the Nutraceutical company to come in and “Clean up” the old Titan Tire plant. We have learned over and over again that regulators aren’t on site and we wouldn’t know of violations until the damages have already occured. PPM and MDEQ said it would be up to the neighbors if they see anything suspicious.