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Commission rejects Remlap medical waste facility

The Blount County Commission unanimously denied Harvest Med Waste Disposal’s application for a Remlap facility.

The proposed location, in a floodplain and a stone’s throw from Gurley Creek, remained the key issue from the beginning of the three-month application process through the Oct. 2 vote.

“It fell in a floodplain — that’s plain and simple how I made my decision,” said Commissioner Allen Armstrong. “I think it’s a clean way to dispose of medical waste, but I don’t think this is the right place,” Armstrong explained.

The five elected officials, their advisors on Blount County’s solid waste board, and numerous residents expressed concerns about potential risks should the area be hit by catastrophic flooding or severe winds.

“It comes down to the unknowns,” said Commission Chairman Bradley Harvey. “We’ve seen in North Carolina, we’ve seen in Texas, that we have no idea how far the water will rise.”

“They could not have picked a worse location for a facility of any kind to be placed in the floodplain of Gurley Creek, which is a precious resource,” said Gene Gonsoulin, Ph.D., an Oneonta resident and environmental engineer.

“The water could rise 10, 15, 20 feet,” Harvey explained. “Of course, that’s the extreme, but it’s just something where caution prevails, in my opinion.”

Sam Howell, Conservation Chair at Friends of the Locust Fork River (FLFR), shared his thoughts on behalf of the Cleveland-based organization. “FLFR all along was most concerned with the medical waste facility being located on the banks of the pristine Gurley Creek and in a federally-designated floodplain,” Howell said. “FLFR is very happy the Blount County Commission heard the people’s concerns.”

First responders had also spoken out about the risks and the lack of preparedness to handle waste strewn across the landscape due to a fire or a truck collision, for example. After the vote, Paul Gilbert, Chief of Remlap Fire and EMS District, applauded the Commission’s decision. “It’s a great day for Blount County and Remlap,” Gilbert said. “We didn’t need biohazardous medical waste coming into this county.”

“I think the Commissioners carefully studied the issue and, along with support from citizens, made the right decision,” Gonsoulin added.

“The Commissioners spoke and the residents of Blount County spoke,” said Ray Morton, a neighbor of the proposed site and a leader in the campaign against the application. “It’s been an effort on everyone’s part. I think the momentum shift we have at the county now is all positive.”

Harvey and Armstrong both emphasized that the specific location was the decisive factor. “Blount County doesn’t really want to be seen as anti-business,” Harvey said. “[Harvest]’s business model was very unique; it’s a new, budding technology. But it really came down to the location.”

“I think our track record shows we’re not anti-waste or anti-landfill,” Armstrong said, “but it’s got to be the right situation and the right place.”

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