For years, people who live near the Sarpy County landfill in Springfield have complained about the smell and trash blowing around during windy days. On Monday, neighbors now are breathing a sigh of relief without the stink.
The county announces they will ship the trash to David City, which is more than 60 miles away.
The Sarpy County landfill was created in 1990 when the other landfill near Bellevue filled up.
A walk into the backyard of Barbara Mill’s property you see fresh cut grass, trees but looking a little farther you see piles of trash in the distance.
“We try to ignore it if we can,” said Mills.
But there’s many things about the Sarpy County landfill she can't ignore, “Mostly the smell and the trash blowing around.”
Mill's family has owned property around the landfill for over a century. They opposed the landfill being built right next to their house-but happy the landfill's days are numbered.
“We're glad it's closing, I know this just makes the problem go someplace else,” said Mills.
Currently trash is being stored in a building built a few years ago, called a transfer station before being shipped out.
So they go through the garage doors they dump their waste onto the floor and they push that waste into large transfer trailers that are then hauled off to David City,” said Sarpy County Administrator Mark Wayne.
The county's trash contractor waste connections also has property in David City, said Wayne, so the company will haul the trash over there instead of finding a new place in Sarpy County to dump the trash.
“The smell the odor should be dissipated and gone once we get the final cap on it, so all the problems we had before shouldn't be there in the future,” said Wayne.
Which is good news for neighbors like Mills, wanting more people to think before they throw the trash out.
“Recycling is what we have to do, we all generate too much trash,” said Mill.
KMTV reached out to many environmentally friendly groups in Sarpy County who are concerned with the carbon footprint transporting the trash to another city.
The county plans to just cap off the trash and put grass on top.
