New Orleans C&D Landfill Seeks Expansion

A New Orleans landfill company is seeking a modification to its permit to expand its construction and demolition debris landfill, according to a report in the Times Picayune (New Orleans).

The request by Slidell Landfill LLC has sparked some opposition from the community. More than 300 Tammany Parish residents gathered at a recent public meeting to sign petitions and write letters urging the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to deny the request, according to the report.

Slidell Landfill is proposing combining two of the landfill’s cells into one 48-acre landfill, which would gradually slope to a height of about 125 feet in the center. The current permit allows the company to raise its two operating pits to a height of about 15 feet.

A consulting engineer for the company, Steve Burnham, tells the Times Picayune that materials dumped at the facility are covered with at least 12 inches of clay soil once every 30 days and that the levee system that protects the site has been reinforced since 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

Some residents have still voiced concerns that the expansion could contaminate local aquifers.