Jackson County Landfill Seeking Help: Trash Compactor Will Conserve Space

By Karen Nelson, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Apr. 15–PASCAGOULA — Jackson County is taking bids to lease a trash compactor for the Seaman Road landfill at a cost of up to $120,000 a year because landfill space is at a premium.

“It’s not easy to permit another landfill,” said Board of Supervisors President John McKay. He said the county needs to take action to use the space it has as efficiently as possible.

“It does increase landfill space,” said county Solid Waste Coordinator Rhonda Powell, noting that’s why the county has committed to leasing one.

Supervisors decided to alter the bid specifications, although Supervisor Tommy Brodnax pointed out that the compactor they were describing had a 500 hp motor and might be more than the county needs for rubbish and contractor debris. Powell told supervisors that other landfills use compactors for the garbage and rubbish they manage.

“There’s a difference compacting garbage than what we’re dealing with out there,” Brodnax said. He suggested using equipment the county already has in the Roads Department or asking for bids on a smaller model compactor.

The Seaman Road landfill has 29-acre and 39-acre cells for Class I rubbish and construction debris, Powell said after the meeting.

Class I is filling up, moving fast, Powell said. “Part of that is due to Katrina.”

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