The Lumberton Board of Aldermen has denied a request by R&M Environmental of New Augusta to dump waste at the city’s lagoon because of upcoming improvement projects at that site.
The request was denied at the board’s August 1 meeting, where Mayor Quincy Rogers said the lagoon – which is located off of Gumpond Beall Road just south of Dry Branch – is part of a $25 million city-wide project that will make improvements at the site.
“So right now, we’re not having anything done to that lagoon at this time,” Rogers said. “It’s going to be under contract probably the first of September or mid-September.
“So we’re going to be under contract and getting a lot of infrastructure work done, which will include the lagoon. So therefore, we decided not to let any other entities (other than the city) dump at that lagoon.”
The improvements to the lagoon will include dredging, as that that measure hasn’t been taken in more than 20 years. City officials are currently working with engineers on that matter, which is expected to increase the lagoon’s capacity levels.
According to the company’s Facebook page, R&M Environmental handles residential on-site wastewater needs, such as treatment plants, lift stations and septic tank pumping.
“I don’t even really know what he was dumping,” Rogers said. “They really didn’t tell me – all they gave me was the name of the driver, and he wanted to know if he could dump inside of our lagoon, in accordance with prices that some other cities have done.
“It would keep him from driving back to wherever he was from, but that’s it. We decided not to do that at this time.”
Rogers said no other companies have been allowed to dump in the lagoon.
“We have stopped that from happening,” he said. “We’re trying to make certain that we keep our capacity levels at a minimum right now, because that thing needs dredging.
“Therefore, we’re not allowing anyone to dump in there other than what we’re doing right now.”
