Two landfills in Texas have been under scrutiny in recent months for their impact on residents.

One is the publicly run Amarillo Landfill, which sparked outrage after a fire jumped from the facility’s working face to a surrounding neighborhood, displacing residents. 

Meanwhile, officials in the Houston area are taking action to shut down a WM-run landfill that has been mostly inactive in recent years. The site has operated for decades near a historically Black neighborhood. When WM subsidiary USA Waste briefly pursued an expansion beginning in 2021, it drew a swift rebuke from residents and Houston Mayor John Whitmire. Robert Bullard, a Houstonian who helped kickstart the environmental justice movement after studying the placement of waste facilities in and around minority communities in the city, is among the critics of the site.

Texas communities, as in other states, continue to feel pressure to add disposal capacity. Last year, Waco became the latest municipality in the state to open a new landfill. Others around the country continue to debate the same step. 

Below is a selection of landfill news from the past month.

Texas officials investigate landfill fire that jumped the fence

Local and state officials are continuing to investigate whether a municipally owned landfill was operating with proper procedures prior to a fire that eventually spread off the property and burned dozens of homes.

In a statement released last week, the city revealed investigations into the initial surface fire and the response remain ongoing. An inspection conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in May did not identify elevated levels of pollutants following the incident, and said staff followed proper fire response procedure. Those conclusions were published in a report in May. 

Amarillo operates its own municipal solid waste landfill. The facility accepts more than 280,000 tons of waste last year, and has enough remaining capacity to continue operations roughly 100 years, according to state solid waste data. 

On May 17, a fire broke out in an area of exposed waste in one of the landfill’s active cells. Firefighters arrived on the scene and were initially able to control the fire, but it eventually crossed the fenceline and evolved into a grass fire across 2,000 acres.

The fire destroyed 52 homes and impacted 77 homes overall, the Amarillo Tribune reported. The incident led to an outcry from the public and review of practices at the landfill.

In recent years, the landfill has faced repeated complaints of windblown trash exiting the property, according to inspection records reported by news channel KFDA. State investigators reported seeing a "large amount of uncovered waste," and landfill staff reportedly told investigators that they had insufficient equipment to apply alternative daily cover.

Harris County, Texas, seeks to close WM landfill

Harris County, Texas, Attorney Abbie Kamin's office announced Tuesday it intends to sue a WM subsidiary to compel the closure of the Hawthorn Landfill in Houston. 

The site predates modern federal landfill regulations, and was originally a sand mine. Permitted waste disposal activities began at the site in 1977, one year after passage of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. 

The landfill's current permit dates back to 1994. USA Waste acquired the landfill from Sanifill in 1996, and merged with WM two years later. Today, it has a permitted footprint of nearly 130 acres on a 171-acre site.

The landfill is permitted to accept construction and industrial waste, but not municipal solid waste. WM says it regularly samples and analyzes water from groundwater monitoring wells that surround the landfill. 

But officials are skeptical of the landfill’s impact on groundwater in the surrounding community. Environmental justice advocates also point to the landfill as evidence of a pattern of discrimination due to its proximity to the historically Black Carverdale neighborhood.

WM previously attempted to expand the site. During administrative proceedings for the expansion in 2023, Harris County successfully convinced a judge to request soil and water testing at the site. When county officials were allowed onto the landfill to test water and gas, they found elevated levels of gas and other constituents, per the complaint. 

The county accused the landfill of "a long-running, continuing pattern of methane exceedances" dating back to at least 2002 based on readings at the property boundary. USA Waste requested modifications to its management plan in January 2024 to install a gas interceptor trench to prevent excess methane from migrating off the property, which the county alleged was a persistent problem, per its notice. 

The county further noted that the landfill has been functionally at capacity since 2016, yet has refused to close. Harris County is now attempting to compel closure, which would trigger the addition of a final cover and provide new monitoring information.

"By refusing closure, USA Waste avoids that long-term financial undertaking and regulatory work to ensure protection of the public and environment, while it leaves the Site in limbo," county officials wrote in the complaint.

USA Waste withdrew its expansion request in January 2024 in a move that was celebrated by Houston Mayor John Whitmire. Since its withdrawal, WM has not telegraphed any future plans for the facility. A webpage for the landfill lists it as closed. 

WM did not respond to a request for comment regarding the notice or questions about the site’s status.

Other landfill news:

• Casella Waste Systems voluntarily withdrew a wetland permit application in a letter to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services last month. The operator said it is evaluating its options amid opposition to its plans for a new landfill in Dalton and an ongoing lawsuit. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
• Quebec's largest landfill, operated by Complexe Enviro Connexions, was given temporary approval to expand without needing to go through a formal environmental impact assessment, as the site had less than a year of capacity remaining. The operator had previously applied for a formal expansion that would extend the site's lifespan to 2043, but an environmental review remains ongoing. (CBC)
• Republic Services reopened the 300-acre Sawtooth Regional Landfill in Elmore County, Idaho. The company purchased the landfill in 2025 after it closed amid permit violations and subsequently made improvements to the site. (KIVI TV)
• Dane County, Wisconsin, officials broke ground last week on a new landfill and sustainability campus in Madison. The facility replaces a landfill that’s running out of capacity elsewhere in the county, and also includes plans to attract reuse, repair and recycling businesses. (WMTV, Dane County)
• The Honolulu City Council did not set aside funding for the acquisition of a site once considered likely to host Oahu’s next landfill. A spokesperson for the mayor reportedly said the city is not considering alternative landfill sites for now. (Honolulu Star-Advertiser)
• Larimer County, Colorado, completed construction on a $39.5 million, 317-acre landfill. The facility replaces another aging landfill in the county that’s nearing capacity. The county plans to construct a transfer station next to the old facility. (Fort Collins Coloradoan)