WALLER COUNTY’S LOOMING WALL OF GARBAGE 
From a group opposed to the Pintail Landfill just proposed for the 723-acre Rainey Ranch property, a mile north of Hempstead: “The company’s plan for the property is to build an industrial park fronting on Highway 6 for approximately ¾ of a mile. Behind the industrial park, a system [of] 20 foot high berms will be constructed to hide the 215 acres of landfill behind. Neither [GreenFirst, LLC’s Oscar L.] Allen nor [Thad] Owings could or would say how many cubic yards of garbage is being planned for the life of the site or how high the solid waste will be piled up on the site. Some individuals have opined that the plan is to have the solid waste site rising to an elevation of over 130 feet. When challenged on his comment that ‘property values will not be affected,’ Allen would only shrug his shoulders in response. Neighbors believe that the mere rumor of such a development has damaged property values for up to 10 miles around the planned project, which would include Hempstead and the surrounding area. Allen praised GreenFirst’s existing Turkey Run Landfill, 45 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia, and claimed certain landowners have been offered all expense paid trips to visit the landfill in Georgia.” [Stop Highway 6 Landfill; more info] Landfill illustration: GreenGroup Holdings
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Eh, gotta build it somewhere. I would think the number of people affected by this would at least be relatively small.
These people seem to be on the up and up, are investing $40million and recurring tax revenue to a county that is SORELY in need of it.. and there is still opposition? It’s a landfill in a rural area. The garbage has to go somewhere, and I don’t think there is going to be a much better plan for it that this.
Sounds like a case of “not in my backyard”-itis. The fact of the matter is that humans produce a lot of waste and it needs to go somewhere.
The city folk don’t want it and discourage landfills by keeping land values so high that it’s economically unfeasible inside the loop. I mean, 723 acres or inside-the-loop land has got to cost some serious $$$. The rural folk say “it’s not my trash, why are you keeping it here?”
Well, trucking trash 50 miles (from downtown) already seems like a long distance to travel and frankly speaking, it’s gotta be built somewhere.
And Bob behind curtain #3 is ‘an all expense paid trips to visit the landfill’
I hear a bunch of city folk talkin’
Funny… people move out to the middle of nowhere for whatever they believe the benefits to be. Well guess what? The middle of nowhere is exactly where stuff like this gets built.
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I feel bad for these people, but the same reason that you get land to live for next to nothing is the same reason why dump sites that need 100’s of acres buy there.
The Astrodome could be filled with garbage.
The old Astroworld acreage would be perfect for a landfill…plenty of room, close to the middle of town, with nothing but apartment complexes and industrial sites nearby, so NIMBY issues wouldn’t be a problem.
Cody:
Land in that area routinely sells for anywhere from $8,000/ac to $10,000/ac.++.
So, your proverbial 40 ac. (minus mule) costs $320,000 to well over $400,000. That’s land only…pay thousands for utilities, etc. Then, there’s a home, if you can afford one.
Cody says, “…the same reason you get land to live for next to nothing…”
You could easily pay $800k to $1m.+ for a hundred acres in this “middle of nowhere”. Maybe Cody should leave his “hipster” convenience store video game long enough to check market values.
Ian: Most officials in Waller County are on board as saying the area does NOT “sorely” need dump tax revenue.
I believe that Harris County garbage should be at a HC dumpsite. If it costs, so be it. HC NIMBYs…that’s tough.
Ready for a steady flow of energy-wasting
road-destroying, costly garbage trucks further clogging Hwy 290? I’m not.
There are innocent long-time landowners about to get screwed here. Their property values will plummet. I know, I’ve been in the market, and I’d red-line
property within miles of this abortion.
Fair’s fair. We generate it in HC; we shouldn’t damage other counties just because some Atlanta-based company sees
profit. Find one of our many HC industrial wasteland areas and dump it there.
They exist.
Udunno: Are you trying to prove my point? $800k for 100 acres? I don’t know if you’re rounding up, but even if that were accurate, my point remains.
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“Maybe Cody should leave his “hipster†convenience store video game long enough to check market values.”
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I have no idea what that means. I don’t know the market areas of every inch of Houston. I do know my own market area and those around it as it’s part of what I do for a living.
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There are apt buildings inside the loop on 25k lots that have a higher dirt value than what you quoted for a 100AC project.
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So yeah, that’s why the build dumps out there. The land is cheap. And that’s my point. The same thing that attracts people to go there (cheap land) is the same thing that attracts people to build huge dumps (cheap land)
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Not sure why you seemed to have taken my comment so personally. If I wanted to live out in the boonies, I wouldn’t take offense to someone calling it ‘middle of nowhere’ as obviously ‘middle of nowhere’ is where I’d WANT to be. And your est for 40ac out there is not much more than people pay for a house on 5k SF in Montrose.
Pal, it is accurate. Do your homework. You’re the genius who said “land for next to nothing”. I’m thinking of the people who coughed up $300, 400,000 PLUS for some rural acreage. Not next to nothing. Your ludicrous attitude is that these folks “should have seen it coming”. The implication is that they’re somehow getting what they deserve. I disagree – they should not take a huge hit to be neighbors with Harris County garbage when they don’t even live there.
…and you’re not too sharp for comparing Montrose prices to rural land…did someone propose a dump in Montrose? I assuredly DID NOT “prove your point”. You proved your ignorance by making a specious comparison.
I’ve lived in Montrose, and I live in Houston, where I make my living. I also have a friend who is in a panic because his land – in his family for 30 years – is dropping in value RIGHT NOW just because of these proposals.
The video game comment was pure sarcasm directed at a poster who deserved it.
He actually compared MONTROSE in a comparison with (not-so) rural Waller County in “evaluating” dump sites costs!
I hope some of you other posters see the injustice of shipping HC garbage out to unspoiled, appealing land just to enrich some Atlanta-based company. Cody can’t, apparently.
so the question is, if you can’t build a dump with out screwing someone over, how/where do you build one?
i’m just willing to write it off as bad karma for the waste generated in low-density areas.
Hello? Old astroworld site? Not being used for anything else in the forseeable future. Plus, imagine the amazing view of downtown from the top once it gets piled up to 130′! The most interesting golf course in town is just south of there (Wildcat), and is built on top of an old landfill. Think of the future, people!
and we could cover it snow in the winter and go skiing and have houston’s first downhill mountain biking trails. sounds great until you think about the fortune the city would lose in it’s convention/sports business across the street and not to mention destroying a valuable tax-base to the detriment of HISD and a whole heap of low-income kids hoping for some equal oppurtunities in school/life (i know, lolz at those fools).
Well I hope you realize that I’m talking about astroWORLD, not the astroDOME…obviously, putting a landfill in the DOME would be ridiculous. But putting a landfill in the old astroWORLD site? Currently, that location is not contributing anything to anyone. There is nothing nearby but car dealerships and industrial sites. And…it’s all the way on the other side of 610 and a massive parking lot from Reliant Stadium and the astroDOME, so it wouldn’t even be visible to covention goers or sports fans. The possible smell? I doubt that Texans fans or rodeo attendees would even notice….
Does anybody know why the Bluebonnet Landfill @ 10000 Beaumont Hwy closed back in the ’80s? They look like they could have gone much further with it.
I am really dumbfounded at some of these comments.. You know people move out to the Hempstead area to get away from the “trash” of the big city.. Why should we have to live and deal with others “trash”? We have destroyed enough of our land. Why should we let city folk destroy our environment?? I say NO to the landfill.. personally I do not want to see it!!
And yet so many posters called those of us who wanted the wreckage of Wilshire Village Apartments to go to salvage instead of landfills something along the lines of “tree-huggers” and “unwashed hippies”. Hmmmmmm….
Who would possibly be against taking as much scrap from a demoed building and recycling it vs. burying it?
Oh my, Cody – take a gander at some of the archived Wilshire Village topics.
My family and I are one of the family’s affected by this landfill. We live in one of several subdivisions with deed restrictions and all. Our subdivision is 5 acre tracks and we have invested over $500,000 in our property.
Yes, we need landfills but how is it fair that Waller County be forced to deal with Harris County’s trash? Harris County should find a place in Harris County for their trash.
The problem is, it’s all about money and Waller County isn’t rich enough to fight it and the buisiness is a multi billion dollar business that wants to make more money off the backs of Waller County citizens. If they’d buy our properties for fair market value we’d all move and let them have our landfill. But, as it is we are stuck living this nightmare AND WHO WILL EVER WANT TO BUY OUR HOUSES!
I’m kind of confused…Since there are currently no landfills in Waller County, where exactly does Waller County’s garbage end up? There are at least three cities in Waller, albeit small in comparison to Houston, that sub-contract out their garbage collection to major collectors based in Houston. If Waller county is to grow as projected, just who is responsible for housing Waller county’s garbage?
I believe that the residents are being screwed over becuase all of the trash that will be filling this dump is coming from Harris County and local residents do NOT have any access to it. So the simple solution is to kepp the trash in Harris County. But I am alomost 100% certain that if you were one of the residents of this area, you would be protesting this landfill just as musch as they are. There are so many more issues and problems that this landfill is going to cause just than being an eye sore. The residents have to worry about the dumptrucks traveling on a road that already has 20,000 pass through daily, the smell, the methane gas leakage, and so many other things. So before anybody sits there and says that “the trash has go go somewhere”, think about how these residents feel about thier commuinty being destroyed for something that people 100 miles away will be using, not them. And also think about the trash that you throw away because one day, you and your community will be put in this same situation. If you agree with this landfill, I hope the same thing happens to your, your family members, and neighbors one day for being selfish.
Maybe Waller Co. residents will pay more attention to their local elections and investigate who their officials will really look out for (besides themselves–that’s usually who is #1 for any politician).
I know its needed but why off of 6. Couldnt they have found an obscure lication where it wouldnt be so visible or smelly i live near one in alvin and man it stinks and have propery near this site damn going have stink wherever i go that sucks