A group of residents in Russell County is fighting a proposal to build a private landfill on a former coal site. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) has now joined them in opposing the landfill.
In 1989 and 1990, thousands of miners in southwest Virginia fought, and won, to keep health benefits for retired and disabled workers. The Pittston Mine Strike lasted more than ten months and is recognized as one of the nation’s landmark events in labor history. Now, three decades later, a private landfill may be built on top the site where part of that strike took place.
“That right there is a slap in the face. It really bothers us,” said Josh West, a local representative for the UMWA. They oppose the landfill, in part because they have concerns that the landfill could cause harm to local residents, and because this area of Russell County played such an important role in labor history. If the landfill is approved, 5,800 tons of trash per day is estimated to be dumped on the site. The landfill could generate revenue by accepting trash from out of the county, or even out of state.
In addition to the UMWA, a group called “We say no to Moss 3 Landfill” is concerned a landfill in that location could cause pollution and leak leachate from the facility into the groundwater.
“We are concerned that it will go to the Clinch River, it will destroy the natural ecosystem there,” said Amy Branson.
The company proposing the landfill is Nova Company of Virginia, and the property is owned by Russell County Reclamation, LLC. A third party environmental analysis of a landfill for that site, dated December 2022, outlines a plan to build a liner system to keep leachate from leaking.
Branson also points to the Bristol landfill, which leaked gas and noxious fumes and was the subject of a lawsuit by the state of Virginia, as well as Bristol, TN, which sued Bristol, Virginia. The city now sends its waste to a private landfill and is tasked with a reclamation effort that’s estimated to cost $60 million.
That landfill’s failure is believed to be due to the fact that it was built deep underground inside a former rock quarry, which the Russell County landfill would be aboveground.
Nova has filed a notice of intent with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to build the landfill in Russell County. The company declined a request from Radio IQ to be interviewed for this story.
The public meeting to discuss the Moss 3 landfill will be held Friday March 8 at 7 pm at the Russell County Board of Supervisors office in Lebanon.
