Mulching plant along Chattahoochee should close, council member says
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A proposal to convert the defunct incinerator facility in northwest Atlanta into a major segment of the Chattahoochee RiverLands project might get an extra prodding from the Atlanta City Council.
Driving the news: Atlanta City Council member Dustin Hillis, whose district includes the long-shuttered Hartsfield incinerator property, is urging Mayor Andre Dickens to close down the site — which is currently used to convert curbside yard waste to mulch — for good.
What's happening: Tuesday morning, the Council's utilities committee will vet legislation calling on the administration to find a new mulching facility and transfer the property to the parks department.
- Long-term plans call for the land and the nearby Chattahoochee Brick Company site to become key green spaces in a proposed 100-mile linear park stretching from Atlanta to Buford Dam.
Zoom in: The residential neighborhoods abutting the industrial area are growing, and residents tell Hillis they're fed up with the facility's noise and mulching dust and debris landing on their decks and cars.
What they're saying: "At my last site visit [with city officials], it was said to me that there had not been a 'mandate' to move this facility, and I said, well, you're gonna get one," Hillis told Axios.
Catch up quick: Built in the early 1960s, the incinerator burned up roughly 750 tons of solid waste every day, according to one report.
- City officials shut down the incinerator in the mid-1970s and opted to ship Atlantans' garbage more than 100 miles away rather than pay for upgrades to meet air quality standards.