But an effort by the Senate to call an 18-month hiatus on reviewing or permitting landfills has run into a small army of lobbyists for the waste industry working to derail the effort in the House.

Six privately owned landfills proposed in rural Eastern and Piedmont counties, if approved by the state, would make North Carolina one of the nation's top five importers of garbage.

The largest, proposed in Camden County by Raleigh-based Waste Industries, would bury up to 3 million tons of trash a year -- creating a mountain of trash 270 feet high, taller than Jockey's Ridge in Dare County. Much of the trash would be shipped in by truck, train or barge from states as far away as New York.

State senators last week unanimously approved a freeze on permits for new landfills until Jan. 1, 2008. But as the legislative session winds down, the House is divided on the issue.

On one side are House members who say the proposed "megafills" would turn the state into one of the nation's top importers of trash and pose uncertain threats to coastal waters. They say an 18-month pause is needed to give lawmakers time to review financial requirements for landfill owners and design standards for landfills in flood-prone areas and other regulations.

"The Senate sent us a signal 48-0, and we need to pass the moratorium," said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat.

On the other side are some House members from rural areas where the landfills would be. They say a moratorium would not be fair because local governments have invited the landfills and the solid waste companies have spent money planning the facilities.

Rep. Pryor Gibson, a former chairman of the House Environmental and Natural Resources Committee who often handles environmental legislation for industries, doesn't like the Senate bill. Gibson, a Wadesboro Democrat, is pushing a bill that would allow five of the six pending landfills to proceed. The sixth, in Camden County, could proceed if it reduced the volume of garbage it held.

Molly Diggins, director of the Sierra Club's state chapter, called that a false moratorium.

"All such a proposal would do is make one of the trash mountains a little smaller," Diggins said. "It keeps us on the track we're on to make us the trash dump of the nation."

Lobbyists at work

The companies proposing landfills have about 25 lobbyists trying to block a moratorium.

"There are a lot of folks from the industry sharing the story to those who are interested in listening," said Greg Peverall, a solid waste consultant from Winston-Salem who is involved in trying to put a landfill in Scotland County. "It takes a lot of spokespeople to bring the discussion to a level where people can make educated decisions."

This spring, the Waste Management Political Action Committee, in Washington, D.C., contributed about $10,000, mostly in sums of $1,000 and $500, to 12 House members, most of whom serve on the House environmental committee. Executives of waste companies also have given to several House members.

Gibson's most recent campaign finance report, dated July 10, showed contributions of about $4,400 in April and May from industry executives and the political action group -- the most of any House member. Gibson said he had returned six contributions and planned to return two more.

"I sent them back because I didn't want anybody to think there could have been anything inappropriate," he said.

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