Gadsden City Landfill to Get Free Dirt

(Gadsden, AL - March 2, 2010) Gadsden City Councilmen approves an agreement with the Etowah County Board of Education and Qore Property Sciences that will provide as much as 8,000 free truckloads of "cover dirt" for the city's landfill.

Gadsden Public Works Superintendent Mike Hilton explains the agreement to councilmen today during the Gadsden City Council work session.

In addition, he says, the dirt at Rigid is about four miles further away from the landfill than this new "borrow pit" will be located, which will help the city save money on fuel, maintenance and upkeep of dump trucks, as well as time constraints of delivery.

The new dirt is being provided free of charge from the Etowah County Board of Education at the recent middle school construction site at Hokes Bluff. Hilton says he estimates the pile of dirt could provide enough dirt for three trucks making five trips a day for two years. At a cost of about $100 per truckload, estimates are that the city would be getting about $800,000 work of landfill cover.

The agreement with Qore Property Sciences will be to maintain the environmental safety of the site, including filing proper paperwork with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, as well as construction of required environmental protection structures, including sediment and erosion fences, gravel access road and a gate. When the city has removed all of the cover dirt, the city will be required to grade, seed and properly cover the less than five acre site at a cost estimated by city engineer Chad Hare to be about $1,500 per acre.

Gadsden City Councilman Robert Avery abstained from voting for this resolution, although he voted to allow it to be brought up today for approval. Avery says he's upset that Gadsden residents who have offered free dirt to the city prior to today have been turned down. "I think we ought to take whatever dirt we can get if we need this much all the time," Avery tells GadsdenMetro.

Both Hilton and Gadsden Mayor Sherman Guyton says they are happy to discuss acceptance of gifts of dirt with anyone. "We'll take any free dirt we can get," Mayor Guyton said during the council work session.