White Co. In Process Of Revamping Landfill Operations

White County hoping the reorganization of its landfill processes will complete by the end of the year.

County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said the county originally closed it to fix current practices and incorporate future plans. Robinson said experts in the field predict that in the next 15 years, the cost to dispose of solid waste will cost as much as educating children.

“I’m trying to get ahead of that, we’re trying to readjust the way we do business down there to make our landfill viable for a long time,” Robinson said. “So has it created some, I guess you’d call growing pains, or inconveniences for some people? It has, and I apologize for that.”

Robinson said this means there will likely be changes to how county residents have gone about disposing of solid waste in the past. He said while it is aggravating, the short-term pain will pay off in the future saving the county money.

Robinson said White County and Smith County are the only two Class I landfills in the Upper Cumberland.

“The best way I can explain it is that you have a leak in your faucet at your house, the first thing you’re going to do is turn off the water and then you get in there and you fix it,” Robinson said. “There’s no way to turn the trash off. So we had to start diverting it so we could get in there and work.”