Anderson County residents could see landfill rates drop with a new 15 year deal, which was approved by County Council Tuesday. Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail
Offer from Greenville County tossed out
Terms of a new landfill contract could lead to lower annual garbage-disposal fees for residents, according to Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn.
Residents throughout Anderson County now pay nearly $72 annually for garbage to be disposed at a landfill near Belton.
Those fees, which do not include garbage pickup and hauling costs, may fall in the future as a result of the deal the county has reached with the private company that owns and runs the landfill, Dunn said.
The county's disposal costs will drop by 19 percent, from $29.52 per ton to $23.90 per ton, under an agreement that received unanimous approval recently from the County Council. The decrease is expected to save the county more than $350,000 annually.
Anderson Regional Landfill LLC, which is a subsidiary of Waste Connections Inc., had sought the county's support for increasing the amount of garbage that can be disposed of annually at the landfill, as well as expanding the size of the landfill. County officials opted to consider those issues at a later date.
More: Anderson County schools closed, snow and traffic problems expected
Tim Fadul, Upstate district manager for Waste Connections, said Wednesday that his company received no assurances from county officials regarding an increase in the annual tonnage cap and expansion of the landfill.
Fadul said the company is seeking a higher tonnage cap and expansion of the landfill to "effectively conduct our business." He also said his company will again approach county officials about both issues after the new contract is finalized.
The agreement on a new 15-year landfill contract came after months of negotiations.
Under terms of the deal, the county's disposal charges will rise by 4 percent after the sixth and 11th years of the contract.
"We have gotten an excellent deal here," councilman Ray Graham said. "What impresses me the most is basically 11 years from now we are going to pay less than we are today."
The landfill near Belton took in 382,105 tons of solid waste in 2017, with 69 percent of that total coming from outside Anderson County, according to a county report.
Councilwoman Cindy Wilson, whose district includes the landfill site, said the new contract is expected to include language requiring the facility's owner to do a better job of picking up litter near its property and reducing odors that neighbors have complained about.
Wilson has been a vocal critic of the original landfill contract that the county approved in 1997. She said it was reached without a public competitive-bidding process. She also said closing documents and engineering reports from the original contract could not be found this year.
Speaking at Tuesday night's meeting, resident Liz Fant urged council members to proceed carefully in approving a new contract for the landfill because she believes there was "too much hanky panky" in the past.
More: Man killed in crash on Interstate 85 in Anderson County
Greenville County officials submitted a proposal in October offering to accept Anderson County's solid waste at the Twin Chimneys landfill on Augusta Road.
Although Greenville County's proposal included a disposal rate of only $17 per ton, Anderson County Solid Waste Director Greg Smith said hauling costs would have increased "tremendously."
According to Smith, the landfill near Belton is about 14 miles closer to the city of Anderson and 16 miles closer to Pendleton than the Twin Chimneys landfill in southern Greenville County.
Dunn said he was contacted by private garbage-hauling companies, including some who feared that they would be forced out of business if the council had opted for the Greenville County proposal.
Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown and email him at kirk.brown@independentmail.com