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LOGAN -- The Logan landfill is quickly running out of space and the city is on a tight deadline to find a solution. But residents near a proposed site for the new landfill are telling city officials to keep the garbage out.
City leaders said they will have to start moving garbage from the landfill to a new one within two years. However, they're quickly running out of options for a new landfill site.
"We always have a wind coming through here in Clarkston, and it's going to blow trash everywhere." Melissa Heiner
The Logan City Landfill serves all of Cache County, and the massive amount of garbage, which totals more than 80 acres, is quickly approaching its expected capacity of 70 feet above ground. Now, the residents in the small town of Clarkston are worried the garbage could end up in their city.
"We always have a wind coming through here in Clarkston, and it's going to blow trash everywhere," said Clarkston resident Melissa Heiner.
The proposed location for a new landfill is about five miles outside of Clarkston, but locals say they don't want to deal with the smell and the increased traffic.
"There was a truck that came through here the other day that was a county truck that I told them to slow down because it's 25 along here," Heiner said. "They were doing probably close to 50 miles per hour. I'm really concerned about the town of Clarkston and its children."
I do understand the concerns of the citizens in that area, but they are part of the solid waste community here, whereby we provide services.
–Issa Hamud
"There's kids right now -- just young kids riding their bikes -- playing," said resident Danny Godfrey. "That's another concern, that it would bring a lot of people out and affect that small-town way of living."
But Logan's Environmental Director, Issa Hamud said there aren't many other options in Cache County and they need to find a new site soon.
"If we don't, we will get into a situation where we will continue to pick up the waste and collect it, and we don't have a location to dispose of it," said Hamud.
He said the best way to keep all of the trash out of sight -- and cause the least environmental impact -- is located in Clarkston.
"I do understand the concerns of the citizens in that area, but they are part of the solid waste community here, whereby we provide services," Hamud added.
But residents in the quiet town are urging city officials to look somewhere else.
"This is our home," Heiner said. "We moved to Clarkston because it's a small town. It's quiet; it's away from town."
Initially, Logan City communicated with Box Elder County to combine with their landfill, but the county rejected their plan. Now, officials say the Clarkston site is the most viable of the options they have left.
Email: manderson@ksl.com
