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Portable-toilet haulers warn Brookhaven lagoon closure will disrupt local sanitation businesses
Summary
Dwayne Gill of Gill Southern Sanitation told the board that a lagoon closure notice (end of June) that halts outside septic/grease dumping leaves haulers scrambling for alternatives; the city said the lagoon cell is full and renovations have reduced treatment capacity.
During public comment, Dwayne Gill of Gill Southern Sanitation told the Board of Aldermen that a city lagoon used by septic and portable-toilet haulers was posted to close at the end of June, leaving several local businesses without an obvious place to dispose of sewage. "We've been struggling to find alternate places to dump sewage," Gill said, noting his firm's more-than-20-year local presence and that the city’s change would affect businesses servicing more than 50 units in Brookhaven.
Gill described operational constraints with nearby alternatives: he said Macomb requires pretesting of truck contents and often rejects portable-toilet waste because the chemicals and storage times can make pH and balance requirements fail. He asked the city to help find an alternate receiving option or a temporary accommodation, and offered to provide additional technical details to staff offline.
A city water-utility official responded that a dedicated cell of the lagoon had overfilled, that the plant’s renovation work has reduced treatment capacity and that the city had sent a notice (roughly two to three weeks' notice as described in the meeting) asking outside dumpers to stop using the lagoon until a receiving option or repairs are in place. The official said the pause is intended to be temporary and that the city would revisit options next spring; no firm timeline or immediate alternative receiving site was announced.
Board members and Gill agreed to follow up offline with more technical information and possible pH/sampling approaches; Gill said he would speak with city staff (Mike) to provide the necessary details.
The board did not adopt a near-term policy change at the meeting; the utility official said the matter will be revisited when renovations restore treatment capacity.
