Dispute over Murfreesboro’s Middle Point Landfill goes to court

A yearslong dispute over the future of Middle Point Landfill landed in a Nashville courtroom, where lawyers for the Murfreesboro mega-dump are appealing a regional board's decision to deny its expansion plans.

The fate of the landfill has implications far beyond Rutherford County. The 207-acre site accepts trash from one-third of all Tennessee counties. Without a 99-acre expansion, the landfill will be forced to close in several years, BFI Waste Systems of Tennessee has said, leaving Middle Tennessee without a trash destination.

William Beck, BFI's attorney, argued Thursday the Central Solid Waste Planning Board failed to follow its own rules in rejecting the landfill's expansion plans. He also suggested the board was wrongly influenced by community uproar. Local residents have been vocal in their opposition to the expansion plans; some have complained of foul odors and health problems.

(READ MORE: Murfreesboro files suit against Middle Point Landfill, alleging new evidence of harmful runoff)

"The case is important beyond the parties because if every region board can do the politically popular thing, Tennessee won't have the landfills it needs," Beck said.

Under the planning board's rules, landfill expansion requests may only be rejected if they are incompatible with a long-term regional waste plan.

Any proposal for a new landfill or expansion of an existing landfill may be approved if its location is suitable, its added volume is necessary and its services are cost-effective.

The board had weighed all those criteria and concluded the expansion wasn't in the best interests of the four-county region governed by the panel, said John Rodgers, an attorney representing the region's planning board.

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The expansion would accommodate the trash from more than 30 other counties, he said. Local governments could face higher costs because they are responsible for processing leachate — or liquid waste — from the landfill. Leachate volume will only increase if the landfill expands, he said.

Lisa Helton, an attorney representing Murfreesboro, said the region's planning board also took into consideration odor complaints and BFI's acceptance of toxic aluminum waste.

The city of Murfreesboro is embroiled in a second federal lawsuit against BFI, alleging the aluminum waste is contributing to pollution affecting local waterways.

The expansion plan is "not environmentally acceptable, cost-effective or necessary for the region," she said. The city has been planning for years for other alternatives for the city's trash, Helton said.

(READ MORE: Landfill developer sues Marshall/Maury County, Tennessee, over denial of project on Monsanto site)

Landfill operators are asking for Chancellor Russell Perkins to overturn the planning board's rejection. Perkins expects to issue a ruling in two to three weeks, he said Thursday.

If the planning board's decision is overturned, the public would continue to have input in a three-year Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation approval process, Beck said.

BFI is a subsidiary of Republic Services, the nation's No. 2 provider of trash services.