Mobile County staff told the Commission on Sept. 18 that they consider the Chastain Landfill permit modification application complete, opening the local review and public engagement process required under the Code of Alabama and Alabama Department of Environmental Management procedures. Tina (staff) explained the county’s role and timeline and said staff has not yet evaluated the merits of the application or issued a recommendation on local approval.

Tina said the completeness finding starts public notice and comment: “We’ll have notices go out, public notices will be placed in the paper by the county next week,” she said, and Waste Management, the applicant, will host a public awareness session. Tina added, “We’ll begin open up public comments and they will close on November 10 at the public hearing where the commission will … give the public an opportunity to speak.” She said the commission must act within 30 days after the Nov. 10 hearing.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the application’s scope. One commissioner summarized the concern driving public interest: that the landfill expansion could allow Waste Management to accept household garbage from other counties or states for disposal in Mobile County. Tina confirmed that expanded service area and an increase in maximum daily volume were elements of the application.

When the commission recorded a procedural vote on Sept. 18 to accept the application as complete so that the required public engagement could begin, one commissioner noted a recorded “no” vote on that procedural action and said the vote was “noted.” Tina emphasized staff’s limited role at this stage: completeness does not indicate support for local approval or a recommendation; staff will evaluate the application against six criteria in the Code of Alabama and report back after the public hearing.

The county will collect written and verbal comments and prepare an evaluation based on the statutory criteria before the commission votes on whether to grant local approval. The public comment period and the Nov. 10 public hearing were specifically identified as the next steps; no local approval or denial decision was made at the Sept. 18 conference.

Authorities cited during the discussion included the Code of Alabama and Alabama Department of Environmental Management rules that govern landfill permitting and local review requirements. The applicant is named as Waste Management and the permit modification concerns the Chastain Landfill and an expansion of its service area and allowable daily volume.

The commission directed staff to begin the public-notice process and to collect and catalog public comments for the statutory evaluation and forthcoming public hearing.