Vanderburgh County landfill won’t accept more poultry waste after public outcry about adding 10 Hoosier and Kentucky counties

Republic Services, Evansville’s contractor for trash and recycling, rescinded its request to bring more poultry waste to the Laubscher Meadows Landfill during Thursday's Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.

Due to neighbors' opposition, Mike Schopmeyer, the attorney for Republic, said the company was instead asking to only renew its ability to accept trash from the 10 surrounding counties.

Residents in the area have been vocal in their opposition to Republic amending its special use permit to accept “poultry waste” – including excrement – from farms and growers in 10 surrounding counties.

The landfill already takes poultry waste from Vanderburgh, Gibson, Warrick and Posey counties. The amendment would have allowed them to also receive it from Pike, Dubois, Spencer and Perry counties in Indiana, as well as Union, Webster, Hopkins, McClean, Daviess and Hancock counties in Kentucky.

More:Neighbors concerned over proposal to bring more poultry waste to Evansville landfill

But the standing-room only meeting had that worry taken off the table. They had worried about a potential smell, as well as poor notice about the potential change from Republic and area officials.

Those in the crowd got another win, as the BZA ultimately approved the extension of the special use permit for only five years, as previously done in 2017.

Local attorney Tom Morton, who lives near the landfill, said in 2017 the BZA had the foresight to put a time limit on Republic's permit to see how it went.

Morton said he understood the Indiana Department of Environmental Management would have final say on how long the landfill operated overall.

"But for the benefit of all the neighbors in the area to have some say in that as well, I think it would behoove the board to put a limitation on the permit," he said. "Even as modified to remove the poultry."

Republic had requested the special use be extended without a need to ever come back for renewal. But Schopmeyer said they would be fine with an extension for another 10 years. 

Instead, the BZA voted to approve the extension for only five years. They also kept the conditions approved back in 2017 when the 10 additional counties were first added. Those include:

BZA member Bill Pedtke, along with other members of the board, advocated for more communication and transparency between Republic and its neighbors.

One concern voiced is the packed room Thursday afternoon was that neighbors didn't know who to contact to share an issue and potentially have it fixed.

Pedtke said if a neighbor sees the waste not getting covered on a daily basis, there has to be someone they can call.

"If it's not Republic, who enforces that?" he said. "We need a third party almost."

Aside from local Republic officials, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management would be the accountability agency for the landfill.

"I think people need a chance to be able to reach their government and get some response," he said. "Five years, that might be OK for permit. But day-to-day stuff, I think we need to give more contact info for that."