THOMASVILLE — The local landfill is not a government facility in the limelight very often, but its operation is monitored closely. Adherence to environmental laws is extremely costly.

In early 2021, the local landfill will reach a new status of operation with a $4 million price tag.

Cell 5-A will open early next year.

“A cell is a pocket of empty space, a hole to bury municipal waste in,” said Chris White, City of Thomasville executive director of public utilities.

Cell 4, he said, is filling. 

“We saw that ahead of time,” White said.

A cell receives three types of debris: municipal solid waste, non-hazardous industrial waste and construction and demolition debris. 

Construction of 12-foot-deep Cell 5-A, which began in 2019, was interrupted in April by a large sinkhole that required a $700,000 change order to mitigate.

The plastic liner being installed has a layer of geotech fabric for added protection in the seven-acre cell.

“This cell is lined to prevent leachate, or garbage juice, from getting into the ground and ground water,” White said.

A contract to perform the work was issued in September 2019 to Peed Bothers Inc., a Butler, Georgia, company. The project is being paid for with budgeted 2019 landfill capital funds.

The landfill receives municipal solid waste from not only Thomas County, but Colquitt, Brooks, Grady and Lowndes counties in Georgia and from Leon County in Florida.

The facility receives about 500 tons of municipal solid waste daily. Debris is covered daily with dirt.

Cell 5-A is expected to have a 70-year capacity. 

The landfill — off Woodruff Farm Road — is under Georgia Environmental Protection Division control and permitted by the state with federal requirements.

The Cell 5-A project was mandated, or construction of a new landfill would have been required.

The landfill property — about 600 acres — is owned by Thomas County and operated by Thomasville city government.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820