ELR Citation: ELR 21320
No(s). 901390 (Va. Sep 20, 1991)

The court holds that a commercial landowner's receipt and composting of discarded organic material is subject to a county ordinance prohibiting the operation of a solid waste disposal facility without a permit. The court first holds that the county has the authority to enact the ordinance, because it has the power to totally prohibit solid waste disposal activities and the county's regulatory requirements do not conflict with regulations imposed by state law. The court next holds that the lower court properly concluded that the landowner's receipt of woody waste from off-site sources constituted the disposal of "solid waste" within the meaning of the Virginia Waste Management Act (VWMA). Although the landowner intends to convert the material into compost for agricultural use, the material is brought to the landowner by developers, builders, and others who have so strong an incentive to discard it that they are willing to pay the landowner a fee to receive it. The court upholds the lower court's conclusion that the landowner's activities are not exempt from regulation as recycling, because there is no immediate use for the waste, and it will never constitute an "ingredient in an industrial process to make a product" within the meaning of the VWMA. Finally, the court holds that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in granting injunctive relief for the county without proof of irreparable injury, because proof of irreparable injury was unnecessary. The county ordinance expressly provides that the county's director of engineering may seek injunctive relief in the circuit court to prevent or abate violations of the ordinance.

Counsel for Plaintiff
R.J. Gasper
[No address or phone number available at this printing.]

Counsel for Defendants
J.E. Jennings
[No address or phone number available at this printing.]

Present: CARRICO, C.J., and COMPTON, STEPHENSON, RUSSELL,^* WHITING, LACY, and HASSELL, JJ.