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The Hamblen County Commission wasn’t going to take up action on the issue Thursday, but much of the first hour of the meeting was spent in discussion of a proposal by SEI Waste owner Kenny Noah to use property at the former American Enka/BASF Fibers property on Enka Highway (State Route 160) in the Lowland community for a Class III landfill, a use that had been approved in 2018.

Thursday’s hearing was for informational purposes only. A vote will not be taken by the commission until the May 21 meeting.

Greg Jernigan, Jernagan Environmental Services President, spoke on behalf of Noah. He made a presentation regarding the landfill project of the 66-acre site that has 40 usable acres.

The property is currently zoned Industrial (Zone I-2). It is located within the City of Morristown corporate limits. The original property has 600-plus acres and was used for the American Enka/BASF Synthetic Fiber Manufacturing facility that started in the 1940s.

SEI Waste is the project applicant.

Jernagan, presented a proposal allowing SEI to dump Class III (or construction) waste at the industrial site, owned by Flat Creek Properties, LLC whose parent company is Arnett Logistics. Landon Pyle represented the company at the meeting. The landfill is accordance with the Tennessee Jackson Law.

“My experiences with SEI are they do everything above and beyond what is required, certainly on the environmental side,” Jernigan said. “Many of you who know him know the kind of work he does.”

Existing landfills on the property include the BASF North Landfill on the northeast and west that is overseen by TDEC DoR Oversight. Three other areas in the south include: Active Lakeway Recycling and Sanitation Class I MSW Landfill is governed by TDEC DSWM Oversight; the Lenzing Fibers Closed Solid Waste Landfill under ownership of TDEC DoR; and the BASF South Landfill under oversight of TDEC DSWM.

After 2005, those 600-plus acres were subdivided into 16 different parcels, Jernagan said.

“The parcels that we’re proposing to construct the Class III Landfill on are surrounded by the BASF North Landfill, BASF South Landfill and the Existing Class I operating GFL facility (as well as) the former Lenzing Fibers Landfill owned by the state,” Jernigan said.

The site geology and hydrogeology mention that the entire area is underlain by Sevier Shale, a 3,000-foot-thick shale unit that forms stiff clay residuum at the ground surface. Pre-acquisition environmental assessment by consultants for Flat Creek Properties, LLC in 2024, documented that thick (locally greater than 50 feet) tight clay soil was located under overlying gray shale. Groundwater was not encountered within the upper 50 feet of clay soil and saprolite residuum. Testing revealed no elevated metals or volatile organic compounds in the soils sampled on the two land parcels, according to Jernigan.

The project overview and compatibility have shown that the proposed land use is compatible with surrounding historical land use, according to Jernigan. Facility design, construction and operation in full compliance with all applicable TDEC-DSWM regulations governing Class III landfills.

Key operational considerations for the proposed landfill are that only Class III wastes will be accepted. No household, hazardous, odorous or putrescible materials will be accepted. Waste placement, compaction and daily cover would be done in accordance with TDEC requirements. The facility would be continually manned via normal daytime operating hours to minimize community impacts as this site is already an active Class I MSW Landfill meaning that there is already truck traffic there.

“We believe, based on the geology and hydrogeology of the site, it’s a great place for opening a Class III Landfill,” Jernigan said. “The SEI Waste proposal returns underused land to productive commercial use; supports the tax base, rather than leaving land idle; supports redevelopment in an existing industrial corridor; creates economic activity without requiring city capital investment and it helps to protect the public’s City-County Class I landfill asset.

“It makes really good sense to put Class III waste where Class III waste should go,” Jernigan said. “Let the Class I facility have a longer life and keep the city and county from having to invest more money to enlarge.”

Jernigan called the proposal as “smart capacity.”

“It is a practical investment in flexibility, resilience and protection of a public asset,” he said.

A similar concept was presented to the community in 2018. It was passed by the City of Morristown, Hamblen County and the Hamblen County Solid Waste Board.

“This isn’t a new idea,” Jernigan said. “This has been passed before, but the owner at the time decided not to go forward with it.”

Should this be passed, it would be a nine-to-12-month process before the permits could be issued.

Dennis Barnes, current director of the Morristown-Hamblen County Solid Waste, doesn’t disagree with what Jernigan said, but expressed some concerns.

“This does affect us financially,” Barnes said. “What’s going to happen is if this comes to pass, the tipping fees will be lower, which will increase (Noah’s) business if he is the only one dumping there.

“We have the potential of losing 100 tons a day. In dollars that is $1.5 million a year. The problem with it is we’re working on a current expansion of the Class I landfill, which will be $18 to $19 million by the time it’s done. We do have the potential of expanding the Class III landfill for another 30-40 years in the same place.

“If we lose another 100 tons a day to pay for that hole in the backyard, our tipping fees for the Class I will be $80 to $90 a ton. That is going to affect every taxpayer in this county,” Barnes said.

Commissioner Edna Greene asked Barnes if Hamblen County Government would pay more in tipping fees of residential garbage to which Barnes confirmed.

“We can’t afford to lose that garbage, the trash that comes across the scales,” Barnes said. “It will affect us.”

“If (the county) landfill accepts Classes I and III waste, why do we need another one?” Greene asked.

“That Class III will last Hamblen County 30-40 years after we expand it,” Barnes said. “Both Hamblen County and Morristown have great potential of having control over their tipping fees for 20-25 years before it has to be changed.”

Commissioner Kyle Walker said that the county has its tipping fee set. At the same time, he asked how many Class III landfills are around Hamblen County. Barnes said that there are Class III landfills in Cocke, Greene and Jefferson counties (under expansion). Walker also asked how much tonnage from outside of Hamblen County is brought in.

“I know we get trash from Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Jefferson counties that comes here,” Walker said. “What is to keep Cocke County (used as an example) from dropping their price on Class III tipping fees and creating a monopoly of all of the trash going there?”

“Nothing,” Barnes said.

Barnes said that the Class I is under expansion at the Morristown-Hamblen Landfill. After 27-30 years, there is still room out there for further expansion by further permitting.

Walker explained that there are going to be pros and cons with this plan.

“It’s not like somebody’s going to take that 66 acres and say, ‘Hey, let’s build a subdivision right there in the middle of Enka,’” Walker said. “I wouldn’t want to buy a house there because of everything wrong with it.”

Walker said that SEI will still have to pay into the county should this proposal pass.

“That will counterbalance some of the missing money that we’re going to get from the landfill,” Walker said. “We’ve got to look at losing revenue on part of it, but will we also gain revenue by doing that? I don’t know. He will have to pay tax dollars.”

Barnes said that he wishes no ill will toward Noah or SEI.

Walker also pointed out about the waste coming from the old Bradley Hardware building in downtown Morristown that is being taken down.

“Where are we going to put all of that?” Walker asked. “(His company) is taking those bricks out one-by-one out there. That’s a lot of waste that we’re hauling off on a daily basis.”

“The answer to that question is that we have the room,” Barnes said.

Commissioner Mike Richardson suggested that Barnes generate actual Class III numbers that the city-county landfill would lose should the Enka landfill be put online before any decision is made by the commission.

“It varies daily,” Barnes said. “There’s no way to put an accurate number on it. It will always be a ballpark number”

“The City and County are under contract to support the landfill with our waste,” Richardson said. “The county has no option.”

Barnes said that 15 tons of tires are taken in by the landfill in a week on average.