The Board of Directors of Tammany Together has adopted and published the following position statement on the Slidell Landfill.

Tammany Together, a parish-wide nonpartisan grassroots organization, asks the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to deny the operating permit extensions requested by Slidell Landfill. A compromise was reached by the former owners, LDEQ, the parish, and the residents in 2006 that the landfill would be closed in January 2010. In March 2007, LDEQ finalized the agreement: the facility would stop accepting waste on January 31, 2010 and final closure operations would be completed by May 2010.

Fletcher Kelly and his partners purchased the Slidell Landfill from Chris Jean in 2008 and were fully aware of the closure date for the facility at the time of purchase. The area residents and business owners fought hard in 2006 to have the landfill closed as quickly as possible. All parties agreed to a compromise solution for the landfill to continue operating for an additional three plus years.

We stand with the residents and business owners and support their insistence that the Slidell Landfill be closed according to the agreed-upon plans as stated in LDEQ’s 2007 statement. LDEQ carefully evaluated the operations, conditions, and public input in 2006 and 2007 and made the right decision. We ask that LDEQ reaffirm their decision and require Slidell Landfill to close this facility. To do anything else would be reneging on a deal and that’s just not fair.