Houston County to expand C&D landfill

HOUSTON COUNTY — At the Aug. 20 Houston County Commissioners meeting, the Board approved an expansion to the C&D landfill. This expansion will likely take five years to complete and will provide the landfill with up to 50 years of added life. Houston County will expand the C&D landfill by 40 acres. 

Houston County Utility Director Terry Dietsch defined a landfill as a sanitary place to dispose of solid waste. 

“Our landfill has two permits, one for construction and demolition for building materials that are not harmful to the environment, and then also we have Subtitle D which is municipal solid waste which would be your household trash,” Dietsch said. 

Dietsch mentioned that Subtitle D is considered a line facility. 

“There’s a plastic liner, leachate collection, which as any liquid that passes through the waste is considered leachate, and then monitoring the network of wells to make sure the plastic liner is working,” he said. 

According to Dietsch, the landfill provides all residents of Houston County with a safe and economical place to dispose of their trash.

“We control our own destiny, so we’re not relying on any other municipality, county, city government, or anybody else to dispose of our waste as we control our own,” he said. “I think it is really important for the Houston County residents to understand that.” 

Dietsch said the C&D landfill was running out of time on Houston County’s current volume permit, which had about five years remaining. 

“Sometimes it can take up to five years to get a major modification done to your permit or expansion, so we felt like it was time to start working on that,” he said. “We are not running out of space, but we thought it was in our best interest to start now to get the permit expanded well ahead of time.”

Dietsch said the landfill expansion will ensure the citizens of Houston County a safe and economical way to dispose of construction materials. 

“I think it is really important for citizens to have a place to dispose of their waste,” he said. 

The Houston County landfill, in general, does many things rather than just holding our trash. 

“They provide green space and provide recreation on the property that we own,” he said. 

“While we’re not using it, it is a part of Oaky Woods as we’ve leased it to the State to allow them to control access for public recreation like hunting,” he said. 

The Houston County Sheriff’s Office also has a gun range on the property.

For additional questions about the landfill, contact the Houston County Public Works Department at (478) 987-4280.