Photos by Ashleigh Newnes

Middle Point Landfill, located in Rutherford County near Walter Hill, currently takes in about 3,700 tons of waste each day, and the company that owns the landfill wants to expand.

The landfill, at 750 E. Jefferson Pike, takes in household trash from 34 Tennessee counties. It is operated by BFI Waste Systems of Tennessee, owned by Phoenix-based Republic Services.

People who live nearby talk about the smell, noticeable to varying degrees, peaking at certain times depending perhaps on the weather or maybe when trash is uncovered in order to bury more.

“For me, when we moved in, there was no disclosure that this was a problem,” said Shelly Mullins, who lives near the landfill. “When we bought the house and did the walk-through and everything, there was no smell.

“The smell is very intermittent. We were there maybe a week, and we were like, ‘What on earth is that smell? It’s god-awful.’ It’s like the smell at the bottom of your dumpster and permeates everything.”

And now, to Mullins’ discouragement, the landfill is considering a 95-acre expansion.

Republic Services wants to expand the existing 207-acre landfill by nearly 100 acres.

Former Tennessee State Rep. Joe Carr, who is running for Rutherford County mayor, said this will prolong its approximate 7 years of remaining use to about 25 years.

On its website, middlepointlandfill.com, Republic Services said “Landfills are an essential part of the infrastructure necessary for a community to function, and their role is increasingly vital as our population grows and the number of active, permitted landfills decline.

“Republic is committed to operating landfills with environmental practices and policies that are good for our customers, local businesses and residents. Equipped with a team of professional landfill experts, including more than 160 environmental managers, engineers and scientists across the U.S., we work to ensure that the long-term management of the country’s waste materials is regenerative to the planet.”

In March 2021, a class action lawsuit was brought by Justin Burriss against BFI Waste Systems seeking property damages based on the allegation that noxious odors emitted from the landfill invaded nearby properties and to force them to mitigate the smell.

But Carr said the landfill can’t actually be shut down based on its smell alone.

“The reason we have a massive smell problem is because we’ve gone from 3,000 tons to 4,500 tons a day, and they do not have the technologies in place to remedy the smell caused by the increase in volume,” he said. “And they don’t compost, they don’t recycle, they don’t incinerate—they aren’t into any of that—it’s not how they make money.

“Republic Services is in the business of doing one thing—they bury trash. That’s it. Every ton of trash they bury—it doesn’t matter where it comes from—is a ton of trash they make money on.”

Carr said in 1987, when the landfill first opened, Republic quickly determined that it could not make money on burying only Rutherford County trash.

“They decided to accept trash from outside the county,” he said. “So the deal they cut was they will not charge Rutherford County pickup for the convenience centers—a tipping fee—and when trash is dropped off, Republic Services will pay Rutherford County $1.20 per ton for all trash buried at the landfill that comes from outside the county.

“The county then agreed—and, it is in the contract—that they will not limit or restrict in any manner any waste delivered to the landfill, regardless of whether it is generated within or outside of the county.

This is why we can’t shut it down or make it county-owned,” Carr said. “It’s the contract. It’s a rotten contract, and it is what controls everything about the landfill. It is going to be very difficult—but not impossible—for us to keep them from expanding because they are abiding by the rules and regulations, and the trash has to go somewhere.”

As far as the proposed expansion, under state law, the Regional Planning Board is required to consider and either approve or deny Republic’s application before the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation can commence its own review, according to a statement the City of Murfreesboro issued. “By law, TDEC is precluded from reviewing Republic’s proposal if the City rejects Republic’s application.”

In July 2021, the Central Tennessee Regional Solid Waste Planning Board voted unanimously to reject the application, upon a finding that Republic’s proposal was incompatible and inconsistent with Rutherford County’s 10-year solid waste plan. Local residents spoke in opposition to the proposed landfill, citing the strong, noxious odors emitted from the current landfill and concerns about impacts on health and quality of life.

BFI filed suit, and a Chancery Court Judge ordered the matter returned to the Solid Waste Planning Board so it can consider additional evidence.

The board reopened public hearings; part of the additional evidence the City of Murfreesboro pieced together from records at TDEC included information on tons of aluminum dross that has been dumped at the landfill.

On Feb. 24, 2022, the Solid Waste Planning Board again voted unanimously in denying the application to expand.

“It will still go before a judge and eventually to TDEC,” said local resident Edward Phillips. “This isn’t completely over yet.”

Tennessee State Rep. Bryan Terry, of the 48th district, serving Rutherford County, acknowledged the landfill is a very complex situation.

In the past, Terry said, those seeking to limit or shut down the landfill have tried to work on what can be brought to the landfill and who can bring it there.

“But even if I can prohibit other counties in the state of Tennessee from bringing their trash to Rutherford County, I can’t block Middle Point from bringing trash in from outside of the state,” Terry said. “So even if we were able to block Davidson County from dumping their trash here, that doesn’t stop Republic from contracting with Birmingham or even New York.

“With the amount of growth that we are getting, I don’t think it is proper for this area in Tennessee to be dumped on. The Jackson Law [in Tennessee Code] allows a county or municipality to get local input for a new landfill to be built or an existing landfill to be expanded. Unfortunately,” Terry said, “it appears as that if a landfill was permitted prior to that date in 1989 that the locals do not have that privilege, and Middle Point was permitted prior to 1989.”

Terry said, the Jackson Law and the contract are two huge hurdles. The first hurdle is at the state and local level, and the contract is at the county level.

Though Terry did recently send a letter to the mayors of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County asking that their attorneys investigate potential conflicts between state law and local public service contracts with Middle Point Landfill to determine if the contracts have expired.

“I have discovered sections of our code that grant certain authority for cities and counties to negotiate contracts for public services. However, the code specifically limits those contracts to 25 years,” Terry said. “The public service contracts held by our city and county with Middle Point Landfill were executed in 1995. If it is determined that these codes can be applied to these contracts, then these contracts expired two years ago in 2020.”

Carr said his solution is for the county to take control of the contract through Tennessee law and renegotiate it.

“We need some authority and oversight,” he said. “Republic isn’t a bad operator, Rutherford County has just grown a lot.”

“And then we need to recycle and compost our trash without other people’s trash coming in there.”

Carr said he does applaud the legislature for trying to find solutions, but until the parties agree to alter the binding contract between Rutherford County and Republic Services, “nothing will happen.”

Terry said he has asked constituents, the city, the county and anybody for ideas on any legislative solutions or anything they think can be done at a state level.

“Lawsuits may be filed, but still there has to be solutions,” Terry said. “If anyone at all has any ideas of solutions, I hope they share them with me.”

Reach State Rep. Bryan Terry at rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov. Reach Joe Carr at joecarr48@gmail.com. View the Municipal Solid Waste Landfills: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and other relevant environmental regulations at epa.gov.