Residents voice concerns about new waste-transfer site

The atmosphere at a public information session about the siting of a new waste transfer station became increasingly tense as Thursday night wore on.

Olver Inc. provided the public with information about the site selection process on behalf of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, hoping to gather public input.

Residents said they are concerned about traffic, pollution, noise and odor, among other things.

But most of all, residents said they were concerned that the site selection process was designed to place the waste transfer site on Eubanks Road, where residents have lived with a landfill for more than 35 years.

"Anybody who knows anything about this issue knows what Rogers Road and Eubanks have been through," said Yonni Chapman, a member of the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism.

"If you have a definition of environmental justice and a site that is in violation of that, why wouldn't you exclude that initially?"

Olver developed preliminary exclusionary criteria that will be applied to site selection before community-specific and technical criteria.

Chapman asked residents who wanted the Rogers-Eubanks Road site to be excluded initially to raise their hand.

"OK, so it's unanimous," he said as residents raised hands.

Residents said they were also concerned about a criterion that requires the transfer site to be within 12 miles of the projected center of waste generation in 2025.

The point will be very close to the Rogers and Eubanks Road community, according to a graphic presented by Olver.

Sites will be ranked based on how they meet criteria.

Even if the 12-mile radius was expanded, sites farther away from the center would be ranked lower than the Rogers-Eubanks site because of that distance, said Chris Heaney, a UNC epidemiology doctoral candidate.

"It's sort of a dog and pony show," Heaney said.

Representatives from Olver said they will not apply any of their criteria to Orange County until they are finalized. At this point, the criteria are all still drafts.

About 30 residents were present, including several members of the CEER. Alice Gordon was the only county commissioner present.

Gordon took notes throughout the meeting and said little herself, although she passed a question to resident Loren Hintz and asked him to ask it for her.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.