Neighbors say landfill smell hasn’t improved after state-approved action plan

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — A strong smell coming from a landfill is tormenting people in a Cabarrus County neighborhood.

It’s not the first time Channel 9 has heard complaints. Neighbors first brought their concerns to us last summer, but now, they say it’s getting worse.

The landfill is located near the Rocky River Crossing community. It’s by the Charlotte Motor Speedway just off of Morehead Road.

People who live there told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz they bought homes in the beautiful and quiet Cabarrus County neighborhood, only to find out a landfill next door would build up and leak the smell of garbage into their homes.

Now, they’re calling for change.

“My daughter and I went outside to play,” Casey Burke said. “And we just had to turn around and go back inside because we were both kind of gagging from the smell.”

Burke said she is fed up with the unbearable smell.

“It’s just gross,” she said.

Her neighbors had similar complaints about the same issue back in June.

“I can’t go for a walk,” Luisa Ribeiro said then.

“We are worried about our health,” said Diane Borkowski.

“It doesn’t make us happy. No one wants to be the stinky neighborhood,” said December Courtwright.

Channel 9 was told then that the North Carolina Division of Air Quality issued a notice to the Charlotte Motor Speedway landfill requiring an odor management plan. They cited the number of complaints and “concerning odorous emissions originating from the solid waste landfill.”

The odor management plan was approved and the Division of Air Quality said it needed to be fully implemented by the end of the year. But Burke said she hasn’t noticed the smell getting any better.

“I think it’s gotten worse,” she said. “I think everybody feels a bit defeated.”

Burke said it’s not just the smell, but the sights and sounds of the landfill she gets from her back windows.

“You can actually see like bags and bags and bags of trash coming out from the dump trucks going into the ground. Just all day,” she said.

She’s begging for help to make a change.

“If there’s anyone out there who can help us or can respond to this, or can help us just sort of deal with what feels like a constant intrusion, we would welcome to help,” she said. “Because it feels like there’s nobody there.”

The last documented smell complaint was from November. The Division of Air Quality did a site visit, but found no violations and noted the landfill appeared to be following the approved odor plan.

Republic Services shared the following statement with Channel 9:

“Charlotte Motor Speedway Landfill investigates all reports of potential off-site odor and conducts daily odor patrols in areas surrounding the landfill. We are utilizing odor misters and have added additional ground cover to the site. We are also in the process of completing more than $1 million in enhancements to the landfill’s infrastructure, including installing new gas collection wells and horizontal gas collection piping.

“Charlotte Motor Speedway is proud to have served this community for more than 30 years, and we continue to work closely with our regulatory partners on the odor management plan and all other aspects of our landfill operations. If residents detect an odor concern they believe can be attributed to the landfill, they can reach out to us in real time at our new odor reporting portal at charlottemotorspeedwaylandfill.com.”

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