/ Bonnie Newman Davis

Green Ridge landfill project faces ongoing community opposition

By Debora Timms

The Green Ridge landfill project will be the topic during a special meeting scheduled by the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors on Monday, July 28, from 7 p.m. at Cumberland County High School/Middle School cafeteria. On the agenda, a public hearing on CUP 24-01, the conditional use permit needed for the proposed recycling and waste management facility to proceed with state and local applications, and the consideration of a new host agreement. 

There have been long-running objections from the community members over the proposal which would allow 104 acres out of the 1,177 acre site to be available for active dumping. These include the potential of water contamination, increased traffic from what the company estimates can be 75 waste hauling trucks per day, concerns regarding noise and odors, as well as negative impacts to public safety and property values.

But there are other concerns as well, such as the likely diminishment of the community’s image and the feeling that this move will be a “degradation of a historically Black-built community and the 80-plus historic and cultural resources identified therein.”

This is the feeling shared by Rev. Muriel Miller Branch, a retired educator, community advocate, local historian and president emeritus of the AMMD Pine Grove Project, during a phone interview Friday, July 25.

Rev. Branch was one of the community members who founded this organization in 2018 with  the aim of preserving the historic Pine Grove School, her alma mater and one six Rosenwald schools built in Cumberland County to provide educational opportunities for Black children in the segregated South. 

The nonprofit wants to restore and repurpose Pine Grove School, which would be directly impacted should the landfill go forward, for community use as a museum and cultural center. 

Current AMMD president, Sonja Branch-Wilson, pointed out a landfill would be a major hurdle for these plans during a planning commission meeting that took place April 21.

“Who would choose to immerse themselves in history and culture at a living history museum when their experience is marred by offensive odors of waste right in our backyard?” Branch-Wilson asked the commissioners. “What happens to that living history when trucks are hauling trash down Pine Grove Road?” 

Rev. Branch expressed concerns with the way the board of supervisors have engaged with the community and their concerns since the project was first proposed.

“In 2018 the community came out en masse to speak against the landfill at public hearings,” she said, noting that the planning commission recommended denial but the board of supervisors approved this first CUP which expired in June. 

“Since then, there has been near radio silence,” Rev. Branch continued, noting a lack of transparency and outreach to constituents. 

“We [AMMD members] have been full throttle since March trying to get information out there,” she said, adding that many don’t have the technology or internet service to keep informed of posts online – particularly with the latest updates to the CUP and host agreement being made public only 11 days ago.

Rev. Branch hopes community outcry can persuade the board to follow the guidance of the planning commission who again recommended denial of the CUP and host agreement. She hopes to continue raising awareness in the days ahead, including with a planned protest Saturday morning from 8-11 in front of the Cumberland County Courthouse.

“I just urge… and that’s not even a strong enough word, but I urge everyone to come and pack the house for Monday’s hearing,” she said, before her voice betrayed the overwhelming emotions involved.

“I just feel at my wit’s end,” Rev. Branch ended. “It’s been a long fight and it really hits hard. There’s so much at stake for our community – the community where I grew up and that so many of our parents and grandparents built.”