AUSTIN, Texas – Waste Management wants to convert an existing landfill in northeast Austin into a transfer station but communities around the site are set on fighting the proposal.

• Proposal to turn landfill into waste transfer site
• Neighbors who thought the landfill would be closing soon do not want it
• One resident says he’s ready to fight the plan

The Austin Community Landfill on Giles Road receives approximately 3,400 tons of waste per day.

It opened in 1970 and has been in operation since, but there are now multiple neighborhoods in the area and residents say they already have a problem with the landfill as it currently operates.

The landfill only has another five years of operation left in it, according to Waste Management, so they’re applying to build a transfer station on the property after it exhausts its capacity as a landfill.

Kenneth McFarland lives in the Harris Branch neighborhood next to the landfill, and he has fighting in his blood.

“A man in my family has fought for this country ever since the Civil War," said McFarland, who continued that legacy, serving in the Army for more than nine years.

McFarland is retired now, but even at 61, he’s got a new battle to fight.

“This is where I see the trucks and the dust," said McFarland, gesturing across his backyard, which is across the street from the Austin Community Landfill.

When he moved there in 2015, he thought the site was scheduled to close in a few years.

“I know a transfer station is needed, but it’s not needed right next to me. [I'm not], you know, trying to be myopic and say that I’m the only one that you’re affecting. You’re affecting a whole three, four, five communities," said McFarland.

If approved, local garbage trucks would take trash to the transfer site and from there, larger trucks would take it to local landfills.

But McFarland is worried it’ll make existing problems like traffic worse, saying: “Just, the noise. Noise pollution. And then, uh, I don’t care. You can’t hold down the smell of waste. I don’t care where you put it in. It’s too close to our neighborhood.”

McFarland says his neighborhood already deals with the smell of the landfill, and the vultures that come with it.

“It’s an embarrassment," said McFarland. "The wingspan of them, when they, they dive in from the air, they come in. You can see them in the air just circling. Yeah, you try to have a barbecue if you want to out there.”

McFarland went to a recent community meeting, where he and his neighbors made it clear they would fight against the proposed transfer site.

“I guess you grow up fighting, you know," said McFarland. "I mean our generation, we were the end of civil rights, but we got a chance to see a lot of changes in America. A lot has changed, and even in Austin.”

But this would be one change McFarland wouldn’t welcome.

“I’m already retired. This is it. I mean, I’m here. I didn’t plan on having to put on my walking shoes and protesting shoes, going out here fighting, but I’m not afraid to do that," said McFarland. "There’s a lot of people not afraid to do that. And I am so glad, so glad, that there are people who are willing to fight.”

TCEQ addressed traffic concerns in the following statement provided by a spokesperson:

The applicant provided data and estimates on the potential traffic of the proposed facility and stated that the transfer station at peak traffic would be less than the traffic for the landfill’s daily operations.

At peak day, the landfill reported 1,246 vehicle trips in 2019 whereas the proposed facility is projected to produce 1,146 vehicle trips per day. As stated in the registration application, the two facilities will not be fully operational at the same time; as operations of the proposed transfer station is phased in the current landfill operations will be phased out. The registration application is available for viewing and copying at the University Hills Branch Library 4721 Loyola Ln Austin, TX 78723, and may be viewed online.

When asked whether they are in communication with community members regarding landfill extension, Waste Management officials said in a statement they have “…relationships with various key stakeholders surrounding the facility.”

TCEQ is accepting public comments on the project. Any citizen who wishes to make a comment may submit one electronically here or can send it via mail to Office of the Chief Clerk, TCEQ, Mail Code MC-105, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, TX 78711-3087.

The review of the Waste Management application is still being evaluated by TCEQ.