Murfreesboro council rejects proposed settlement with Republic Services, reaffirms opposition to Middle Point Landfill expansion

The Murfreesboro City Council on July 31 rejected a proposed settlement with BFI Waste Systems of Tennessee LLC and Republic Services that would have resolved a federal lawsuit accusing the companies of water and air pollution at Middle Point Landfill, and separately adopted a resolution reaffirming the city’s opposition to any expansion of the landfill.

City Attorney Adam Tucker summarized the settlement proposal to council members before public comment, saying it was the product of multi‑year litigation and mediation and included monitoring, treatment studies and a gas and odor management plan. Tucker said the agreement would require monthly sampling of leachate for PFAS, semiannual groundwater and spring testing, construction of a granular activated carbon system at a primary stormwater outfall, and potential pretreatment construction if state or federal regulation requires it. He said the agreement also provided the city reimbursement for certain costs and penalties for failures to comply with key terms.

The settlement would have required BFI and Republic to reimburse the city $500,000 for past sampling and odor‑plan development, provide $40,000 for two years of city sampling of…