Meridian residents will have an opportunity to share their thoughts on a proposed solid waste transfer station as the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality hosts a public hearing Feb. 20.

 

The transfer station, an approximately 5,000-square-foot building located on seven acres, at 3201 Southern Way Blvd., in the Key Brothers Industrial Park, would be built, owned and operated by JWC Environmental LLC. The station would be used for temporary storage of municipal waste from Lauderdale, Clarke, Kemper, Newton, Neshoba and Jasper counties, as well as Choctaw and Sumter counties in Alabama, before it is transferred to long-haul vehicles and taken away to landfills.

 

According to MDEQ, the transfer station will mainly be used to store waste from industrial, commercial and residential sources. The station can also be used to sort recyclable materials before sending them off for processing or disposal.

 

“The MDEQ is soliciting public input on this proposed project and draft permit on behalf of the Permit Board.  The purpose of the public hearing is to describe the proposed project and to receive comments from the public regarding the project and the draft permit,” the state agency notes in its hearing notice.

 

After arriving at the hearing, residents will be asked to sign in and mark if they would like to make a public comment. Comments will be given in the order on the sign in sheet.

 

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the Lauderdale County Courthouse boardroom. The courthouse is located at 612 22nd Avenue South.

 

While the county is providing space for MDEQ to hold the public hearing, it is not involved in the hearing itself.

 

The construction of a transfer station has been in the works for several years. Initially proposed to be built in the G.V. Sonny Montgomery Industrial Park, the station was relocated to the Key Brothers Industrial Park in 2021 following backlash from local industries and Naval Air Station Meridian, which was concerned about the garbage drawing vultures into its training flight paths.

 

Residents of Sweet Gum Bottom Road, which lies just east of the proposed site, have also voiced concerns about the transfer station and impact it may have on their quality of life.

 

JWC has said the fully enclosed facility and filtration system will minimize smells, keeping both the vulture population and the disruption to nearby residents at low levels. The company has also billed the station as a way to increase local recycling efforts by giving residents a place to take their recyclable materials.

 

Lauderdale County supervisors approved an amendment to the county’s solid waste management plan in March 2023 to allow the transfer station to move forward.