State Department of Environmental Quality officials arequestioning whether area participants in a regional authority areimplementing a solid waste management plan as required.

DEQ officials have expressed concerns about the 20-year planthat was approved in March 1994 by the Southwest Mississippi SolidWaste Management Authority. The authority, including Lincoln,Amite, Pike, Franklin, Lawrence, Walthall and Wilkinson counties,and cities in those counties, was formed in 1992 to addressrequirements of the 1992 Solid Waste Planning Act.

It is now time for the plan to be updated. In a letter to memberofficials, though, DEQ Graduate Engineer Bruce Laird suggested theauthority disband and allow individual governments to assume therole of solid waste planning.

“It appears that the member counties are informally planning andmanaging solid waste within their local jurisdictions rather thanimplementing the regional plan that was approved,” said Laird, whoalso questioned the availability of monetary resources for theauthority and the participation levels of some members.

DEQ officials and regional authority representatives arescheduled to discuss the situation at a meeting Thursday in Summitat Southwest Mississippi Community College.

“I expect they’ll disband the thing,” said Charles Burke,Lincoln County authority representative, about his expectations forthe meeting.

Disbanding the authority and allowing each government entity todevelop its own 20-year plan will cost a “good bit” of money, Burkesaid. He did not have an estimate.

In developing the regional plan 10 years ago, Burke said it costthe authority approximately $71,000.

Of that amount, Lincoln County paid over $14,000 and Brookhavenpaid over $17,000, Burke said. The plan, though, has kept membercities and counties in compliance with environmentalregulations.

“If we hadn’t done it, DEQ could have fined us a lot more thanthat,” Burke said.

The 1994 plan called for development of a regional landfill toaccept members’ garbage.

The landfill was never created or opened. Burke said the costfor the disposal of garbage at the regional landfill would havebeen around $100 a ton.

“It would have come down as more tonnage came in,” said Burke,adding that participants determined the amount of garbage in thearea and operational costs made the regional landfill not feasible.”You’ve got to have a lot of garbage going in it to offset thecost.”

Instead, most member counties sought contracts with privatecompanies for disposal. Brookhaven and Lincoln County now payaround $35 a ton for disposal.

City Attorney Joe Fernald, who discussed the DEQ letter withaldermen at last week’s board meeting, said the issue ispotentially a “nightmare” for solid waste. Fernald said solid wasteis a frustrating topic because new issues continue to arise.

“The problem of solid waste is something we’ll be wrestling withfor quite some time,” Fernald said.

Ward One Alderman Dorsey Cameron, Ward Two’s Terry Bates andWard Four’s Bob Massengill, which make up the board’s solid wastesubcommittee, and Trash Superintendent Willie Smith are expected toattend the Thursday meeting.

Burke will represent the county. He said the future of theauthority, the solid waste plan and whether it will be updated asrequired are uncertain.

“It’s up in the air until we decide what we’re going to do withit,” Burke said.