Orange County legislators planning on using Duke Forest as the site for a new county landfill may have hit a roadblock.
Recent actions by the Landfill Owners Group, which will make the final site recommendation, indicate that the group may select one of the other three sites currently under consideration (see graphic, page 3). Two of the sites are just north of Hillsborough and one is in southwestern Orange County.
After studying each of the four sites, a search committee formed by the group recommended this summer that the site labeled OC-17, which includes a portion of Duke Forest, be the preferred site for the landfill expansion.
Duke Forest is used by the University for education and research projects, including a NASA health research project, ozone emissions testing and carbon dioxide enrichment studies. The University continues to oppose the selection of the forest as a landfill site.
"We remain unalterably opposed to OC-17," said David Roberson, director of University relations..
The landfill group, composed of representatives from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County, voted in August to allow consideration of all four sites at a Sept. 28 public hearing scheduled for discussing development of OC-17.
Supporters of the measure said that they needed to hear more public input on each of the sites before making the decision.
"I've felt it's only fair to have a hearing before making a decision rather than afterwards," said Jacquelyn Gist, a member of the group. "Since we're down to the final moments, one more hearing won't kill anyone."
Gist, a Carrboro alderman, is one of five new non-voting members of the 10-person committee that joined the group during the summer. Before the expansion, the group had no representatives from Hillsborough and only one member from each of the other legislative bodies.
Some said that consideration of the other sites is unnecessary, however. Orange County Commissioner Don Willhoit, one of the group's three original members, said he would have preferred creating a plan for developing OC-17 and discussing that plan at the hearing.
The group will make its final recommendation to the legislative bodies of Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro at the end of the year. Each must then approve the recommendation.
Despite his opposition to the hearing changes, Willhoit said he hoped they would be productive. "I hope the [Landfill Owners Group] will have a better understanding of the search process and how people feel, and then we can move on," he said.
In April, the Board of Trustees of the University adopted a resolution authorizing University officials to "take all necessary and appropriate measures, including the institution of legal proceedings" to block the selection of OC-17.
In the months since the search committee's recommendation, University officials have not taken any new initiatives to block the landfill, Roberson said. Nevertheless, officials have kept in contact with those involved in the selection process, he said.
Selection of OC-17 still may provide some room for negotiation between county and University officials, Willhoit said. "We don't need all of the property immediately," he said. "We have a willingness to negotiate with Duke University and the other owners."
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