VALDOSTA — City Council turned down a permit request for a waste management firm’s transport system expansion at Thursday’s council meeting.

The request by Perma-Fix for a conditional use permit was opposed by a number of people attending the meeting.

A representative of the company speaking to the council said the planned expansion to existing facilities would allow the transfer from one truck to another of sealed containers of waste materials generated by companies in the South Georgia area for transport out of state.

Safety was a major concern aired at the council meeting, and mention was made of an explosion at Perma-Fix’s Valdosta facility in 2013 that caused serious injuries to three people. The blast was caused by an employee offloading a 55-gallon container of acetone waste into a fuel blending pot, causing a fire that engulfed half the facility and forced an evacuation of nearby businesses and residents, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Perma-Fix representative said the kind of work that led to the explosion was no longer done in Valdosta and that the site had long since been cleaned up.

One of the four citizens who spoke to the council said another such accident could cause economic hardship with closed businesses.

Councilman Thomas McIntyre asked if the new facility would handle any nuclear waste, saying he had received many phone calls from constituents on the subject. The company’s website touts nuclear and radiological services as being a major part of its business.

The company representative said such material was not handled in Valdosta.

In other business:

— Council approved a permit for an art studio planned for 112 W. Moore St.

— Commander Stephen Thompson of the Valdosta Police Department was honored as the January Employee of the Month. Police Chief Leslie Manahan spoke of how Thompson, shopping in a local pharmacy before Christmas, spotted a man trying to hide merchandise in his clothing. When Thompson confronted the man, the suspect began crying, saying he was homeless, hungry and had nothing to provide for his children. Rather than arrest the man, Manahan said, Thompson purchased food and other essentials the man needed.