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    • Murfreesboro and Rutherford County in Tennessee face trash overflow battles
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    Murfreesboro and Rutherford County in Tennessee face trash overflow battles

    Umito Posted on

    In recent years, leaders in Murfreesboro and Rutherford counties have pushed to move away from relying on the Middle Point Landfill for waste disposal.

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    While Middle Tennessee faces a waste crisis, Rutherford County and its main city, Murfreesboro, are grappling with their own waste problems in one of the fastest growing regions in the state.

    The Middle Point Landfill, located in Murfreesboro, is expected to reach capacity within five years, and leaders in Murfressboro and Rutherford counties have pushed in recent years to no longer rely on the landfill for municipal waste disposal.

    The landfill is the largest in Middle Tennessee and accepts much of Davidson County’s waste, but local leaders said they are tired of being the region’s dumping ground.

    Murfreessboro is engaged in ongoing legal battles with Middle Point, which is owned by waste disposal giant Republic Services, on odors and water pollutionand pushed back the the landfill’s efforts to expand. The landfill lost a court ruling last year to expand it, but the fight continues.

    Meanwhile, Murfreesboro leaders are looking for bigger, more innovative ways to combat the waste of the future.

    Last year, the city approved a $65 million project with a Tennessee company called WastAway that would convert waste into biomass.

    Under the original plan, the city would fund $17.5 million for a transfer station, while the remaining $50 million to build a facility would come from tax bonds or private investors.

    The city already allocated $2.5 million for the design, but the project hit a snag after leaders failed to find investors, Murfreesboro City Manager Darren Gore said.

    Gore said costs have also increased. The city had initially budgeted $50 million for the project, but that amount has now increased to $75 million.

    Gore said the city is about $30 million short of the project, but is still committed to moving forward. The council may, at some point, consider tax obligations.

    WastAway converts waste into a fluffy product which can be used as an alternative fuel to coal or wood. The technology has been available for years, but Murfreesboro would be the first city to try it on a large scale, Gore said.

    Gore admits it’s risky since Morrison-based WastAway has yet to undertake a project of this scale, but he said leaders are encouraged by studies showing how the city could generate funds by selling the fuel alternative.

    They just need funding.

    “We tried to look at the long term, but it was difficult to get private equity to invest,” he said. “They want to mitigate their risks, and we want to mitigate ours. But we are still working on it and I have confidence in the overall plan. It will happen one day. For me, this is the most elegant solution that can be found.

    Rutherford County faces its own trash battles.

    Determined to no longer depend on Middle Point, leaders are engaged in an ongoing debate on a draft contract to transport waste outside the county.

    The issue became complicated last month when 11 county commissioners voted to censure county Mayor Joe Carr for signing a contract with a waste management company before getting approval from the purchasing committee.

    Umito
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