COVINGTON, Ga. — Newton County will use a $3 million loan from a state infrastructure financing program to extend the life of the county landfill.

Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) recently approved the loan for a project planned to add about 740,000 cubic yards of volume and almost seven years of additional life to the Lower River Road landfill south of Porterdale, a news release stated. 

Additional space was needed after county officials predicted it would reach its capacity by December 2021, said Curtis Reynolds of Harbin Engineering Co.

A “cell” is an area of a landfill designed with extra features such as a rubber lining to stop water runoff from polluting the surrounding environment.

The Newton County Solid Waste Management Authority — which operates the landfill — will pay back the loan from user fees, officials said in June. 

It is a 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.44% — which is reduced because Newton County participates in a program focusing on water conservation, according to information from the state agency. 

Newton County Board of Commissioners applied for the loan and is backing it because the relatively new solid waste authority has not had time to build up enough “debt service ratio” to qualify for the loan, Reynolds said during a June 3 board meeting. 

GEFA approved the loan from its Georgia Fund, which is a state-funded financing program for water, wastewater and solid waste infrastructure.

Newton County also is in the midst of a project it began in January 2019 to move garbage from an older part of the landfill that does not have a lining installed. 

The garbage is being moved to a lined area of the Lower River Road landfill so a lining can be installed in its former location by 2022, officials said.

Newton County’s landfill loan follows GEFA loans in recent years totaling more than $50 million to three local government entities for expansion and upgrade of water and sewer systems serving areas countywide.

GEFA approved a $25 million loan from its federally-funded Clean Water State Revolving Fund in 2019 to Newton County Water & Sewerage Authority.

The loan was to be used to build the Little River Water Reclamation Facility and an access road, convert an existing force main system to a gravity sewer main system, and install a new sewer main to help encourage commercial development in east and northeast Newton County, records showed.

The county agency will pay 1.93% interest on the 30-year loan for the project to provide sewer service to parts of eastern Newton County including the Stanton Springs Business Park, according to state records.

GEFA also approved a $2.5 million loan from the same fund to the city of Porterdale in 2018 for replacement and rehabilitation of sewer lines and manholes. 

In October 2018, GEFA approved a $23.2 million loan from another federally-funded program to Newton County government for improvements to the county’s water system.

The project includes modifications and improvements to a pump station on the Alcovy River, an intake on Lake Varner, and the Cornish Creek and Williams Street water treatment plants.