NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — Dozens of residents say if a landfill expansion is approved, it will destroy their community.
Newton County leaders want to make an existing landfill a regional one.
"I can't begin to tell you the toll it's taken on me. It's our heritage. It's our way of life," said Brenda Mullins, a lifelong resident of the Spring Hill community.
She says the county's plan to partner with private company Green Hills and more than triple the waste intake at the landfill smacks of environmental racism.
She says there are seven dump sites within four miles in the predominantly black community.
"We don't want to be the state's dump. We don't want to take in the state's trash," Mullins said.
Thursday night, the Newton County Board of Commissioners got an earful from opponents of the proposal and from those concerned about the potential impact on the Yellow River.
Channel 2's Carl Willis talked to Bob Norman, the attorney representing the county and East Georgia Land.
He insists the impact on the area along Lower River Road would be minimal despite ongoing complaints about pollution, the odor, buzzards and traffic.
"It's all regulated. It's all on liner systems. It's more waste. But it's all handled in the same manner with the same engineering protections," Norman said.
Still, many residents feel that they are not being heard.
"Our lives don't matter. Our livelihood doesn't matter. They're not concerned with contaminating our community," Mullins said.
A vote could come as early as the next discussion scheduled for March 17.