FAIRHOPE, Ala. – A bill that passed 21-4 by the Alabama Senate Thursday night, which places a  two-year moratorium on landfill permitting, seems likely to get Gov. Robert Bentley’s signature and become law.

In February, Bentley signed an executive order putting an indefinite moratorium on landfill permitting until safer health and environmental standards could be adopted for larger facilities.

The legislation could also stop a landfill that has already received approval by the Conecuh County Commission if the case goes to court, a lawyer representing a citizen group said after the bill was passed.

An environmental lobbying group, Conservation Alabama, also stated in a May 5 news release that the legislation could be of “particular relief to citizens of Conecuh County who have been fighting the Conecuh Woods landfill, a mega-landfill near Repton, Ala., which could receive as much as 5,100 tons per day from 30 states across the country if it were to go into operation.”

The Conecuh County Commission approved the landfill application by a 3-2 vote on April 18, despite significant opposition organized by a group called Citizens for a Clean Southwest Alabama.

“The moratorium establishes a two-year delay of new Alabama Department of Environment Management or local permitting,” David A. Ludder, an attorney representing the group, stated. “It does nothing to change the County Commission approval previously granted. Of course, if the County Commission decision is reversed by a court, the moratorium could preclude the Commission from granting approval again.”

Landfill supporters say the facility will bring jobs to the county, but opponents counter it will hurt the environment and depress land values there, according to reports.

Commissioners in several nearby counties, including Baldwin County, have voiced opposition to the project, according to reports.

Although the Conecuh Woods project received approval by the county, it has not received a state permit from ADEM, a spokesman for the environmental group said.

Ludder said the group he represents had not challenged the county’s landfill approval in court, “yet.”