Swain County’s municipal land-clearing inert debris landfill has been closed since July 2 while the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality investigates allegations of illegal dumping.
“We are currently dumping brush over the spot, and requirements of the landfill will further complicate the DEQ job of investigating the allegation,” said County Manager Tommy Dills. But while the landfill is closed, no waste placement is available, meaning residents must hold onto their land-clearing debris.
It’s a fair assumption that some may dump elsewhere in the duration. The Smoky Mountain News in 2017 reported that after the county’s waste transfer station cut its hours, illegal dumping directly outside of the facility became a “serious problem.”
