Last year, Gary Dumas, the city's Director of Operations, said that Fayetteville could save almost $300,000 a year by contracting with an out-of-state landfill operation for disposal of the city's waste. Mayor Dan Coody said officials with the company had spoken to his staff, but Coody denied knowing any details of those discussions. "If we can find a better rate and still have an environmental assurance about where our trash is going, then it is something we would be interested in," he said. It didn't quite work out that way.
Last week, Indian Country Investments LLC, the company contracted by Fayetteville to handle the city’s garbage was fined more than $1 million by the Cherokee Nation Environmental Protection Commission for numerous violations at the landfill on property owned by the Cherokee Nation. The environmental problems included allowing the leachate pond to overflow, not adequately covering the site, high concentration of methane gas, use of a non-authorized, unlined storm water detention basin, and accepting industrial waste other than that produced in construction and demolition.
On Earth Day, 1971, a public service announcement featuring Native American actor Chief Iron Eyes Cody proclaimed, "People Start Pollution. People can stop it." Fayetteville city officials should think on that and explain how the bargain contract and fuel consumed hauling our city's waste out-of-state are consistent with the Mayor's sustainability campaign.
Last year, Gary Dumas, the city's Director of Operations, said that Fayetteville could save almost $300,000 a year by contracting with an out-of-state landfill operation for disposal of the city's waste. Mayor Dan Coody said officials with the company had spoken to 
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