Environment

If you think our county deserves to grow in a way that respects the environment, read more.

We have nothing without clean air and clean water. 

Landfill operators make money when they transport and bury garbage.  It's the only thing they do, and they are not incentivized to do otherwise. Our landfill is accepting waste for 33 other counties in exchange for very low local waste disposal fees. When the landfill closes, our garbage disposal costs will increase.

The landfill was annexed into the city of Murfreesboro recently. The only way for the landfill to expand horizontally is onto county property. A lawsuit is underway to stop the growth of the landfill vertically. 

Though the Middle Point landfill technically meets state environmental minimums, it continues to leach amount of pollutants into the Stones River where most of us draw our drinking water. 

This is a problem because of the rapid growth and the pressure it puts on our infrastructure and our environment. The counties that bury their trash in our landfill, including Rutherford, will have to send it somewhere when Middle Point closes.

My Stance on the Landfill:

1. We MUST have industrial waste diversion through the Tennessee Waste to Jobs bill to benefit all Tennesseans. This is a no brainer for me.
2. We should have robust and effective recycling programs to reduce waste entering any landfill.
3. We should never expand the landfill outside of the existing footprint. 
4. Rutherford County should have a detailed plan for our garbage when the landfill closes.