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Greensboro City Council won’t be making any further efforts to expand the White Street Landfill. Not until the trial has ended, at least. In a court order from Judge Richard W. Stone released on June 16, Plaintiffs were granted preliminary injunction, originally filed by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. This prohibits the City Council “from adopting any solid waste management plan that selects or approves a ‘new sanitary landfill’ site…in the White Street Landfill…until the Court has entered a final judgment in this case.” "The statute was there, all the Greensboro City Council had to do was look at the statute," said Goldie Wells, a leader with the Citizens for Environmental and Economic Justice. "I’m happy our voices are finally being heard." The City Council had planned to sign a 15 to 30-year contract with Gate City Waste Services or Waste Industries by June 21, 2011. This plan is barred by Judge Stone’s order. A 15- to 30-year contract would have required the construction of two new phases (Phases IV and V) of the White Street Landfill. These expansions obligate the City Council to consider other sites, hold a public hearing and consider socioeconomic and demographic data under North Carolina General Statute 160A-325. Prior to this order, the Greensboro City Council had not yet fulfilled these obligations despite repeated community requests. In addition to failing to fulfill its legal obligations to its constituents, the Greensboro City Council’s efforts to re-open and expand the landfill would come with other serious costs, including lost business and property tax revenue as well as environmental and health consequences.

The White Street Landfill (and the subsequent lawsuit against the city) has been covered extensively by the press. SCSJ attorney Chris Brook has been working hard to make sure the citizens of Greensboro are heard. Be sure to check out our News Coverage page to see all of it. Make sure to check there as well for updates. Today the landfill was mentioned in a piece on CNN.com on race relations in Greensboro. Over the weekend, the Greensboro News & Record published an editorial asking for the city to take a "timeout" and more thoroughly consider its options regarding the landfill. The temporary restraining order requested by SCSJ was granted, preventing the council from continuing negotiations for the time being. For photos of the last council meeting (in which the City Council voted to narrow negotiations to two companies who were both planning to reopen the landfill), check out the Flickr stream provided by YES! Weekly. SCSJ has been working with Citizens for Economic and Environmental Justice, the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad and several individual community members in order to bring this issue to its rightful resolution. Please look at their websites for more information on them. Also, read the letter sent to Greensboro City Manager Rashad Young written by Chris earlier this year. The letter will also inform you of many of the hidden costs of the landfill. We've included a link to the letter below.