LA DEQ awards contract to close Harrelson Landfill

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently awarded Murphy Brothers Trucking and Construction, LLC, the contract for compacting and closing Shreveport’s Harrelson Landfill.

“We are pleased to reach this milestone with the Harrelson Landfill,” DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch said. “More work has to be done, but we are certainly moving in the right direction.”

The site of a subterranean fire in late 2014, the landfill was closed and the operator, Harrelson Materials Management, Inc., was ordered off the site in September of that year so that the DEQ could address the situation. The firefighting efforts took several months and were handled by Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., a third party.

“The people in the Dr. Martin Luther King area will be very pleased to know ... that the landfill will be closed," Sen. Greg Tarver, who represents the landfill’s district, said. "During the course of the year, their health was improved because there was no smoke."

The closing of the landfill will entail covering the facility with a 2-foot layer of clay and a 6-inch layer of topsoil, which will be seeded and fertilized. The area will be monitored for at least three years to ensure there are no problems.

“While we remain committed to addressing the issues at the Harrelson Landfill, be assured that we are utilizing all legal options to recover our expenses,” Hatch said.