No immediate plans for a landfill in Greene County are in the works, according to Greene County Commission Chairman Chip Beeker.

Beeker addressed several concerned citizens at the commission’s Monday meeting by saying the county needed a 10-year solid waste plan in place before they could even think about a landfill.

“Nothing on our part has changed since last month,” Beeker said. “We do not have our 10-year-plan, so everything stands as it did last month.”

Beeker said when the county receives its 10-year plan, it will hold a public hearing after 30 days.

The main question on concerned citizens’ minds was what would happen when a plan was in place. Rosie Carpenter, one of many concerned citizens to attend the meeting said the commission should think about the well-being of their people rather than money.

“Every dollar is not a good dollar,” Carpenter said. “We should not risk our lives, the lives of our children and our unborn. We do not need this garbage in Greene County.”

In October, Regional Environmental Service Company showed an interest in building a landfill for household garbage and construction debris on 1,000 acres of land owned by Weyerhaeuser.

The county expected the project to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars and employ as many as 25 people. The Montgomery based company’s plans never got off the ground, though, because the county lacked a 10-year plan.

Carpenter said no matter what the county’s financial situation was, she did not want to see a landfill come to town.

“We don’t want this garbage in Greene County,” Carpenter said. “That is why we are here this morning. We are here to ask the county commission to not consider this garbage coming into Greene County.”

Money, Carpenter said, is not the only thing that should be considered when deciding whether or not to bring a landfill to Greene County.

Bonnie Miller and other concerned citizens passed out fliers before the commission meeting outlining the dangers of burying household garbage.

The flier, which came from a publication of the Environmental Research Foundation, stated even the best available landfill liners, even state of the art high density polyethylene can leak at a rate of 20 gallons per acre per day.

Miller said she had no problem with Greene County taking care of their own waste, but felt bringing in garbage from around the nation could be dangerous.

“I don’t think anyone is crazy about bringing in garbage from 48 states,” Miller said. “As far as taking care of our own garbage, we make it and we can do something with our own garbage. As far as bringing it in from other states, I think that is a terrible idea.”