Knoxville Landfill Problematic for Residents After Fire

A Knoxville, Tenn. Landfill is creating problems for locals. The landfill once caught fire a few years ago and residents are concerned it’ll happen again, soiling their neighborhood.

The Fort Loudon Waste and Recycling facility caught fire in 2019 and since, residents of the Oakwood-Lincoln Park neighborhood have had a handful of issues with the site. Michelle Ivester, the Oakwood-Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association president, has reached out to city officials to voice her concerns.

“We live over off of Broadway on Chickamauga, and we had debris in our yard, I mean that’s close to half a mile away. Our other neighbors also had debris, we were stuck in our houses for three days,” Ivester said.

The fear of another fire is just one concern from locals. Ivester and others are claiming the landfill is quite the eye sore as well.

“It’s a blight on our neighborhood, people are trying to sell their houses, they’re having a hard time doing it because of this property. The safety factor in my opinion is what should be at the top of everyone’s thoughts,” she said.

Recently, the City of Knoxville issued a notice of zoning violation to the landfill for “utilizing the property as a storage yard.” The notice demands the facility to “remove all materials stored outside by June 30, 2023.”

Though the fear of another fire remains, the Knoxville Fire Department has said the source of the fire was due to arson by two juveniles.

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