Alabama town preparing bid process for landfill expansion

The city government of Dothan, Alabama, is taking steps to move forward with a landfill expansion project despite hurdles that include a civil rights lawsuit from some nearby residents.

According to an online article by the Dothan Eagle newspaper, the city is preparing to “put construction of the landfill out for bid within a couple of months.”

The landfill expansion has been met with legal action from nearby residents, according to the article. “An environmental civil rights complaint against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management over its issuance of the permit that [approved] the Dothan landfill expansion is still active and there is no timetable on a resolution,” says the Eagle.

The complaint stems from a group of African-American residents who live near the Dothan landfill who say the current location is discriminatory. As summarized by Eagle reporter Lance Griffin, “Residents who live near the landfill have complained of a bad odor, buzzards circulating through neighborhoods and other hazards. They [say] the landfill has existed in their part of the city for a long time, and that it is time for the landfill to be built in another part of the city.”

The pending complaint does not act as a legal barrier for Dothan’s city government to move forward with its plan, however. For the nearby residents to halt the project they will likely need to find a federal judge who chooses to “issue injunctive relief” as a legal remedy.

According to the news report, Dothan officials considered hauling municipal solid waste to a more distant landfill or investing in a waste-to-energy plant, but found those options to be costlier.