VALDOSTA — A potential wetlands encroachment issue means an attempt by the Deep South Municipal Solid Waste Management Authority to sell a landfill site to Superior Services will drag into the next year.

Almost two years have passed since the Authority signed a contract with Superior for a 350-acre site on Wetherington Lane off U.S. 84, but a variety of complications have delayed finalizing the deal.

Under the contract, Superior would pay the Authority $2.6 million for the site, as well as a $25,000-a-year gratuity. The jewel of the deal, however, is a long-term, low-cost contract for waste dumping.

Under the deal, Authority members would receive a 50-year contract at $21.95 per ton. Superior can only increase that amount every fifth year, only in an amount commiserate with inflation and only if the Consumer Price Index grows by more than 2 percent in the fifth year.

The Authority is comprised of representatives from Berrien, Lanier and Lowndes counties in addition to the cities of Valdosta, Nashville and Lakeland.

As part of the contract with Superior, the Authority commissioned a wetlands delineation study — which was approved — and received a valid permit for landfill operation from the state’s Environmental Protection Division.

Superior, apparently unaware of the Authority’s wetlands study, commissioned their own study which revealed an encroachment on wetlands, and asked the Authority to effectively redraw the site plan to remove a 50-foot buffer area.

A redesign would have cost the Authority both time and money with a minimum four month delay and additional costs of at least $20,000 in order to comply with EPD regulations on wetlands protection.

Since the Authority already has an approved wetlands delineation and an EPD permit, consultant Gary Friday gave the group four options: tell Superior that the Authority has fulfilled its contractual obligations and that the sale should proceed; find a new company interested in purchasing the site; operate a landfill on its own, or capitulate to Superior’s demands for site alterations.

Friday also noted that it appeared Superior had only recently learned of the Authority’s approved wetlands study and suggested the group see if that fact softened Superior’s stance on the matter. Authority attorney Tommy Coleman of Albany agreed, and the group voted unanimously to pursue that course of action.

The Authority initially intended to operate its own landfill, but Superior offered a better tonnage rate than the group could achieve on its own.

One reason why Authority members oppose any additional delays are the added interest costs on the site.

The city of Valdosta owns the land and charges the Authority 5 percent of $1.2 million per year in interest as compensation for revenue lost by removing the land from its previous savings vehicle, in addition to other up-front costs.

Except for Valdosta, which will receive market value for its land, Authority members will largely break even on the transaction.

The members fund the Authority through sliding contributions, with Valdosta and Lowndes County bearing 80 percent of the costs, presumably due to higher potential usage of the proposed landfill.

Superior presently owns a landfill that abuts the proposed site, and Valdosta owns approximately 500 more acres of surrounding property.



To contact reporter Bill Roberts, please call 244-3400, ext. 245.