By Alabama Public Radio
Salem, AL – A new survey suggests 85 percent of Lee County residents say they don't want garbage from Atlanta hauled to a landfill in Salem. The Opelika-Auburn News sponsored the survey and found just three percent of respondents believed the Lee County Commission should increase the amount of trash allowed at the landfill. The survey has a margin of error of three percentage points. The company Waste Away operates the Salem Waste Disposal Center. It has petitioned the county commission to allow metro Atlanta's garbage to be dumped at the site. The modified permit would expand the daily waste cap from 15-hundred tons to 25-hundred tons. That would add 15 Georgia counties to the landfill's service area. But opponents say more trash would pollute the soil and water, damage roads and fill the landfill prematurely. A public hearing concerning the plan is scheduled Thursday at six P-M at Opelika High School.