Bio-solid producing company closes operation

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
A company that transported treated human waste from New York to north Alabama is no longer operating in the area.
Synagro, a Texas company that treated human waste and transported it to farmers across the country, has closed its Colbert County plant in Leighton.
The company and its practices became a point of contention in Franklin County over the past two years as more and more human waste was dumped on farmland in the county.
Many residents complained about its odor and worried that it could contaminate the soil or water as it ran off into creeks and streams.
The Franklin County Commission has been working since November to find ways of regulating the use of bio-solids in the county.
The commission had worked to create a new solid waste management plan, passed a resolution in support of a state bill that would have given county voters the opportunity to pass a Constitutional amendment banning the use of bio-solids in the county and joined a lawsuit against Synagro.
Company officials confirmed that they are no longer using the Leighton facility, which was the only of its kind in north Alabama.
County Commissioner Stratt Byars said the commission worked hard on finding ways to limit the use of bio-solids in the county.
"We worked hard on regulating it locally," Byars said. "This is something that we felt was important to people in Franklin County. We wanted to do everything we could to make sure that we wouldn't have problems with public health and safety in the future."
With the closing of the Colbert County plant, it appears the use of bio-solids will be stopped in Franklin County.
"We just wanted to have some local control and hopefully that will not be an issue now," Byars said.