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Decatur officials outline landfill, recycling operations and say staff protected historic cemetery on landfill property
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Summary
City staff described operations and capacity at the Morgan County Regional Landfill, outlined regional recycling activity at Decatur's MRF, and said they located and now protect the Lao Cemetery—a burial ground that staff say includes graves of both plantation owners and enslaved people.
The City of Decatur on Monday heard a detailed presentation on the Morgan County Regional Landfill and the Decatur material-recovery facility, during which landfill staff said they had identified and are protecting a cemetery on landfill property.
Wanda Tyler of landfill and recycling introduced the landfill team and said William “Bill” Haygood, landfill manager, presented the landfill’s history and operations. Haygood told the council the Morgan County Regional Landfill began operations after a 1965 partnership between Morgan County and the City of Decatur and was set up as an enterprise account to repay acquisition and development costs over 20 years.
Haygood said the landfill is permitted to accept up to 3,000 tons per day, is operating at roughly 54% capacity and has about 6,000,000 cubic yards of airspace remaining. He said Morgan County produced about 81,479 tons of waste in 2021—about 1.46 tons annually per resident—and that the landfill aims for a 40% diversion rate for recyclables in line with state rules.
Justin Pickett, the city’s recycling manager, described Decatur’s material recovery facility (MRF), built in 2010 and expanded with a 2023 ADEM/recycling partnership grant. Pickett said the regional MRF processes mixed paper, #1 and #2 plastics, cardboard and aluminum and receives curbside collections from more than 19,000 Decatur households plus partner municipalities and county drop-off sites. He provided a breakdown of tonnage by partner and named private vendors who take processed streams for resale.
During the landfill presentation, staff described discovering a burial site on landfill property known in the presentation as the Lao Cemetery. A landfill staff member said a resident first alerted staff; subsequent work with consultant Purott McAnally identified the graves and staff said they have documented and protected the site. "We have a cemetery," the speaker said, noting the grounds contain graves of plantation owners’ families and of enslaved people; staff said families still visit the site.
Council members praised landfill and recycling staff for handling day-to-day operations and for the cemetery work. Tyler and Haygood said the landfill operates separate C&D (construction and demolition) cells being expanded to add roughly 1,500,000 cubic yards of airspace and that construction work will be bid soon. Pickett said equipment repairs and upgrades are under way at the MRF—a new baler was expected in mid-May and an automated robotic system in June—and that the department runs a monthly household-chemical collection and other special recycling programs.
The presentation included operational details—groundwater monitoring wells, leachate treatment, recent fee changes from $26 to $29 per ton plus a $1 state clean-up fee—and a note that another fee adjustment is on the schedule for fiscal 2027. Staff answered questions about recycling markets, collection locations and the landfill’s environmental safeguards.
Council members did not take formal action on the landfill or recycling items during the work session; staff said construction for the C&D expansion will go out for bid and that the cemetery site has been preserved pending any further archaeological or family engagement steps.
