Pre-2022: The Solid Waste Authority (SWA) operated a dedicated Class D cell for Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris. The cell's capacity was severely strained by the bulky, uncompactable nature of C&D materials and an unforeseen, massive influx of flood-damaged building debris following the catastrophic 2016 floods. Furthermore, state regulations prohibited the SWA from "mounding" C&D waste above adjoining ground elevations, which significantly capped the cell's potential lifespan.
May 2022: Acknowledging the depletion of the cell's permitted horizontal and vertical airspace, the SWA publicly announced that the dedicated C&D cell had "no space left" and would halt the intake of bulk C&D waste the following month.
June 2022: The Pocahontas County Landfill officially stopped accepting commercial-grade and bulk C&D waste into the dedicated C&D cell.
January 2023: The SWA's official monthly tonnage report included a handwritten note explicitly confirming, "C/D Was closed as C/D because it Went in same cell". To manage the ongoing generation of local debris, the SWA began accepting small amounts of residential C&D as "bulky goods" subject to a $95-per-ton tipping fee, forcing this uncompactable debris directly into the main Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) cell. This commingling acted as a massive "space eater," accelerating the depletion of the main landfill's remaining airspace.
May 2023: Realizing the main landfill was rapidly reaching its terminal capacity, the SWA and the West Virginia Solid Waste Management Board formed a Stakeholder's Group. The group evaluated three primary methods for the county's future waste disposal, one of which specifically proposed building compactor sites alongside a "larger convenience center for bulky garbage & construction materials".
December 17, 2025: With the landfill projected to close permanently by late 2026 and independent expansion deemed financially impossible, the SWA formed a Negotiating Group with private contractor Jacob Meck to develop a public-private partnership. Their objective was to design a transfer station equipped to physically handle both MSW and the heavy C&D debris generated by local contractors.
February 25, 2026: The SWA officially approved "Option 4," a 15-year lease agreement with JacMal, LLC to construct a new transfer station. Jacob Meck noted that this centralized facility was structurally necessary because it would be equipped to legally receive, separate, and export the heavy C&D waste stream that residents and contractors had increasingly been hauling in personal dump trailers.
March 19, 2026: The SWA reviewed updated Mandatory Garbage Disposal Regulations to codify the new transfer station model. To prevent groundwater pollution from unauthorized dumping, Section 9 of these drafted regulations legally mandates that all C&D waste generated in the county must be delivered to an approved disposal facility, officially ending the practice of on-site C&D burial unless the owner holds a specific state permit.
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