Story by Dr. Yvonne D. Nelson There is an obvious reason why all nine of the Land Use Control Board members unanimously rejected the official decision of the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development’s decision to approve the request for the expansion for the Waste Connections of Tennessee, LLC with conditions. The main reason, in the eyes of those who have to deal with it on a daily basis because it sits at the border of their backyards, is because the company is a horrible excuse for a neighbor. Yes, I said it and yes, I mean every word of it. For the past 10 to 20 years, Waste Connections has received complaint after complaint from several neighbors whose property connects to theirs. And, for the past 10 to 20 years, Waste Connections has done little, if anything to rectify the problems they have created. The only reason the company is trying so hard to be a good corporate neighbor at this point is because they’ve already purchased an adjoining 30-acre lot and even though their deed restricts them from expanding operations without the express approval from OPD, they have done just that, but its more tax dollars in the city’s pockets, so no one from the city of Memphis seems to care. Let me clarify one point. It should not be stated that ‘most’ of the neighbors oppose this expansion. Anyone of the neighbors who does not care about this happening is either crazy or they have an internal problem that medicine cannot fix. The quality of life for these people is severely reduced to an almost non-existent state of being. On days when the odors from the garbage operations are extremely strong, you cannot comfortably sit outside. It made me sick to my stomach in August 2018 when I walked door-to-door obtaining many of the nearly 1,000 petition signatures against the expansion and although he can’t tell you himself due to government regulations, the regular USPS mail carrier recently stood in my yard while delivering a package and told me he has to skip lunch on those same days because the smell makes him too nauseous to eat. Our neighborhood residents did not just start complaining about the odors, the rats, or the snakes. They’ve been complaining about them and other issues for the past 10-20 years and a few have some records and proof to support this. One neighbor records the days the odors are the strongest on a calendar. The point is that Waste Connections is only trying to clean up our environment because they want this expansion request approved. Once they have the total 40-plus acres to do as they please, our homes will become even more undervalued. We have many neighbors who have worked all their lives and who plan to retire in their current homes near this unwanted facility that has grown out of its current surroundings over the last 10-20 years. The company claims they are grandfathered in and that they do not have to do anything they don’t want to and have said, through their paid representatives, that they will leave the garbage, the smell, and the vermin just as they are if they don’t get their way. And we believe them. This company is so low down that their representatives are walking the neighborhood, twisting the truth, and obtaining signatures under false pretense to show the neighbors support the expansion effort when they don’t. Whitehaven, we need to stop it. We need to stop settling for less when we know we deserve more and we deserve better. We do not wish to see this waste transfer facility bringing more county garbage to our area to transport it wherever they take it. We do not want this environmental monstrosity growing any larger and further destroying our lovely, mostly bedroom community. Please join us at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, May 21st to complain. If you can’t come then support us by calling each and every one of the 13 council persons to let them know exactly how you feel about their decision to allow this in our Whitehaven community. Let me be so bold as to ask you to inquire if they’ve visited the area prior to the clean-up currently being undertaken and if they’d want it in their backyard. I think you get my point. Thanks! 8
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