A Message to Chatham County Residents from Preserve Chatham County 
(revised on March 4, 2011 to address the recent announcement of a proposed landfill in the beautiful Bennett community)
In mid-January 2011, a majority vote of the Chatham County Commissioners halted a County led landfill site selection process. All three Commissioners voting in favor to stop the landfill siting process agreed with county residents that we do not need to build a landfill anywhere in Chatham County at this time.    

Write, email, or call the Commissioners to remind them of their recent vote and to thank them for taking a stance against building more landfills and for supporting the exploration of a sustainable, environmentally friendly method of solid waste disposal. 

Important points to consider . . .  

• Chatham County currently “controls” and transfers 50 tons of waste per day to the Sampson County regional landfill. This is the trash collected from the 12 convenience centers located throughout the County. The Sampson landfill is only six years old. Chatham can continue to transfer waste to Sampson County while developing a sustainable, more environmentally friendly method of waste disposal for our total county generated solid waste of approximately 110 tons per day. Private trash haulers dispose of solid waste not controlled by the County. 
• Randolph County is seeking a permit to build a regional landfill. Central NC does not need three regional landfills in such close proximity.
• To be economically feasible, a regional landfill in Bennett will require hundreds of tons of waste per day trucked in from surrounding counties for all the years the landfill operates.
• Huge garbage trucks traveling into Chatham from other counties will affect safety on our roads, speed up the deterioration of our highways, and contribute to road side litter.
• Because Chatham residents actively practice waste reduction and recycling, our annual tons of waste per person are 0.7 tons, one of the lowest rates in the State, compared to the State average of 1.34 tons per person.
• A landfill will destroy the rural nature of the Bennett community by the daily use of very loud heavy equipment (beep-beep-beep!) necessary to compact and cover trash. Seagulls, known to carry antibiotic resistant diseases in their poop, will flock around the landfill and scatter trash into surrounding areas. Rodents and other disease carrying animals frequent landfills.
• Land values surrounding the landfill site will plummet. Would you buy land or a house with a landfill next door?
About landfills . . . 
• Despite better construction materials and techniques,  the US EPA verifies that landfills eventually leak toxic "garbage juice" known as leachate.
• The environmental impact of a landfill will extend far beyond the time the landfill is closed.
• Branch Properties LLC will have financial responsibility, and bear the burden of liability, during construction, operation, and care taking after the landfill is full and closed.