After more than two weeks of blockage due to the saturation of cell number 10, professional waste haulers regained access to the Grandes Cayes landfill on Thursday, July 30. Their trucks had been immobilized since mid-July, and a slow-moving protest had been organized last Tuesday. A temporary solution was finally found between the parties involved. while the site must be brought into compliance within 14 months.
This resumption of activity follows discussions held on Wednesday between the Collectivity, the DEAL (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing), and Verde SXM, the site operator. In a message sent to its clients yesterday, Verde SXM clarified that no new prefectural authorization allowing the resumption of waste storage at the non-hazardous waste storage facility (ISDND) had yet been issued by the prefecture, despite the contrary announcements made by the Collectivity last Wednesday. Businesses can currently deposit their clients' waste in the same non-compliant area currently used by the Collectivity for household waste.
The operator nevertheless insists that this area “does not constitute an authorized non-hazardous waste landfill”. The Grandes Cayes eco-site remains open for recyclable waste as well as for sorting and recovery activities.
The local authority will soon be formally notified
The agreement reached with the state services also includes a 14-month period for the Collectivity to bring the site into compliance with the work on the landfill cell. This deadline will be included in the formal notice that the prefecture is expected to send to the Collectivity shortly, following the storage of household waste since July 13th in an unsealed area. Once the formal notice is received, the Collectivity will have three weeks to move the waste stored since July 13th to the area designated by the decree. _DR
