The Shelby County Land Use Control Board says “no” to expanding a controversial landfill near an elementary school in Frayser.
The landfill is run by the Memphis Wrecking Company. After hearing pleas from both sides of the debate Thursday morning, the board voted unanimously to not expand the landfill. The board hopes the Memphis City Council will follow suit.
“Why put an area that’s got a rotten smell of raw board, that’s wet, that puts a sulfur smell in the air, and we all know what that smells like,” says attorney Price Harris.
“Why will we then expand the dump to bring more blight in from other places that are not in Frayser into Frayser. It makes no sense to me,” says Community Activist DeAndre Brown.
One by one, community members, attorneys, and educators expressed their resistance against a proposed expansion of a landfill roughly 300 yards away from Whitney Achievement Elementary School. And members of the Land Use Control Board listened.
“We should all know that you are not going to allow the building or expansion of any sort of dump around our children and families,” says Marty Redding, a former Principal.
At Thursday’s vote, students packed council chambers, so board members saw first-hand who their vote may affect.
“Everyone is considering the children and that’s what most important, especially with it being behind a school like that,” says Dr. Lasandra Young, Whitney’s Principal. “Like the student was saying, we have field day, students are outside playing in the backyard just to think about 300 feet away we have this landfill.”
Representatives from Memphis Wrecking Company who hoped for the expansion, say the move would have eliminated blight in Frayser. They also tried to answer any misconceptions about the plan.
“We do not degrade the water, the air. We do not have trash. We do not have smells. There’s nothing put in the landsite that generates smells,” says Gene Bryan, with Memphis Wrecking Company.
“We feel like we made a strong case for this application and we hope to, look forward to educating the public more about this application, since there were a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about the project,” says Carol Williamson, CEO, Memphis Wrecking Company.
In the end, the board listened and voted in favor with those who opposed the plan.
“The property that they are talking about expanding this landfill on will actually be a perfect property for moderate income, home development. I mean it’s got an elementary school right there,” says Scott Banbury of the Sierra Club. “The fight is not over yet. The council has in the pass overwritten the land use control board when they put a negative recommendation on these things, so we hope the council is listening to the people and does the right thing.”
Memphis City Council will now have to approve the Land Use Control Board’s recommendations. We are told that vote can happen within the next month.
