Santek, the company that currently operates the Jefferson County landfills in Mt. Olive and Pinson has proposed increasing the area from which garbage is accepted to include areas outside the county.

Years ago, when the landfill was proposed to the county, the residents of Mt. Olive were assured that the service area would be limited to the county only. When the county leased the landfill to Santek, the service area was limited to Jefferson County. The ADEM permits which were renewed last year currently state that the service area is limited to Jefferson County.

Now, Santek wants to take in garbage from areas outside the county to compete with other landfills and the Jefferson County Commission is considering it!

We feel that the county landfills are a service for Jefferson County only. We LIVE here. We do not want to be the dumping ground for the rest of Alabama. There will be even more trash along the roadside as trucks bring in more and more garbage. The land values and the quality of life in this area will be negatively affected.

What’s next?

The likely next step will be to increase the size of the dump to handle all the extra garbage that will be coming in. How will this affect you?

Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Carns points out that the new private landfill in Adamsville will compete with the county landfill and that rates would likely be so low that Santek could not compete and operate the landfills in Jefferson County.

If that is the case, then perhaps it would be a good idea to go ahead and close the landfills as they would not be needed. This was supposed to be a service for the county, not a profit center.

The Jefferson County Commission will have a hearing regarding expanding the service area for garbage taken in by the county landfills on April 14 at the Jefferson County Courthouse. Please contact the commission and let them know your feelings on this subject.



Debra Robertson

Mt. Olive