Purchase of new land will add to Vermilion Parish landfill’s lifespan

At some point in the future, the Vermilion Parish landfill will reach its capacity and come to an end.
That remains several years down the road, and officials with the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, which operates the site, are working constantly to extend the 135-acre landfill’s lifespan.
One way the jury is doing that is by adding acreage. Last year, the jury purchased six acres that connect to the landfill. 
“We intend to make this a continuation of our landfill,” Landfill Supervisor Billy Noegel told members of the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville last Tuesday. “We put in about $150,000 worth of work to get it ready. We’re effectively adding four acres that we can use, with a 200-foot offset.”
Noegel said the police jury is in the process of obtaining a permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the new area. The location of the land is significant.
“The only way we can expand our landfill,” Noegel said, “is if it touches our borders. This space we purchased was available, so we bought it.”
That’s about as far as expansion goes. Moving to another location within the parish is also out of the question.
“DEQ is not allowing any new landfills south of I-10,” Noegel said.
With that in mind, Noegel and the crew at the landfill work to shred, pack and assort what comes into the facility.
“We’re doing everything we can,” Noegel said. 
While there is no set date for when the landfill, which opened in 1982, will be closed, the police jury has had to set aside funds to monitor it for 30 years following its closure. 
“We will have to have at least two or three employees,” Noegel said of what will be needed to maintain the site properly. “We have an environmentally sound plan, as per DEQ’s guidelines.”
Currently, efforts are underway to ensure the landfill’s longevity extends as far into the future as possible.
“I’m not going to throw out a number,” Noegel said. “We’ve got time left, and this new acreage may allow us to double that time.”