Orange County Board of Commissioners continues search for waste transfer station

A fourth option in Orange County’s ongoing waste transfer station search was met with overwhelming disapproval Tuesday night, leaving the county’s Board of Commissioners with few options and little time left to decide.

The offer’s rejection has put the board under pressure to find an acceptable site for a waste transfer station to ship trash out of the county when the current landfill runs out of room in three years.

The newly proposed 10-acre site, a county-owned property west of Millhouse Road, lies less than a mile away from an earlier proposal closer to the existing landfill, where the historically black and low-income Rogers Road neighborhood has vehemently opposed a site in their community.

Despite several residents speaking against the newest proposal, the board ultimately approved a motion to keep all four proposed sites as possibilities.

Two other options — a piece of land off Highway 54 and a Chapel Hill-owned spot off Millhouse Road — have not been popular with county residents either. The last option, sending the county’s waste to a Durham station, is not viewed as a long-term solution.

Although many of the residents who spoke urged the board to consider more locations, Commissioner Steve Yuhasz said that wouldn’t guarantee they would find an attractive solution.

“That’s with the idea that if we reopen the process it’ll come up with a better site, one that won’t be near anyone in this room,” said Yuhasz, who said he favored the county-owned Millhouse site.

“We’re under time constraints. I don’t see the value in putting the process off for another six months or a year.”

Many of the residents who spoke criticized the board for considering an option so close to another proposed location.

“If a waste transfer station is not good for one side of Millhouse Road, it won’t be good for the other,” said David Caldwell of the nearby Rogers Road community.

Residents also pointed to the potential site’s proximity to the Emerson Waldorf School and the risk of increased traffic in the area as reasons against it.

With no end to the debate in sight and the clock ticking on the county landfill’s lifespan, Nelson said the board might have to settle for a short-term solution.

His proposal to have Hillsborough’s waste temporarily transferred to Durham was rejected by the board.

The board did not set a deadline for its final decision.

“We need to extend the life of that landfill for as long as we can,” Nelson said. “I think we’re going to need it.”


Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.