Ongoing Camden Landfill Battle Brings Out BURNT's Wood

It was almost two weeks ago now that

operated by Environmental Waste Solutions (EWS) that they fear will soon expand to 42 acres. There will be another public hearing in Camden on Monday, Aug. 8, in front of Mayor Elvin Johnson and Camden's board of aldermen.

In the meantime, to learn a little more about what is going on with landfills and environmental issues in the Southeast — and who, if anyone, is doing anything about it — Pith spoke to one of the many environmental activists who attended the hearing in Camden on July 26: Bruce Wood, president of the Nashville environmental group BURNT (Bring Urban Recycling to Nashville Today).

BURNT has been active in Nashville since 1988, when they succeeded in their first project: helping to stop the city’s $250 million expansion of the downtown garbage-burning incinerator and proposed $100 million solid-waste processor. The incinerator, otherwise known as the Thermal Transfer Plant, was located near Riverfront Park, between First Avenue and the Cumberland River. As Wood sees it, had the plant not been closed, downtown would be a different place today.

“Closing this long-term polluter led to incredible, lucrative development of MetroCenter and downtown, including the Titans Stadium," Wood says. "This growth would not [have] happened if foul meat-processing odors blanketed downtown and MetroCenter.”

BURNT’s mission includes “improving the environment through citizen involvement with government, business, and academia.” Since 1991, BURNT has fought against solid waste pollution, landfills, chemical contamination and environmental injustice, promoting a toxin-free environment for Nashville through activism related to clean air, water, recycling and pesticide reform. The organization has also worked closely with the Sierra Club and the NAACP to fight the disproportionate amount of pollution and waste that migrates to mostly poor, minority and rural areas.