The Wake County Board of Commissioners will consider a proposed expansion at the Shotwell Landfill in Wendell.

The plan calls for more than 11 acres of added disposal space within the existing landfill property boundary.

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For Betty Shirley, a Wendell resident for 40 years, the proposal is being met with skepticism. 

"I wouldn't want it to go away, but I don't think I'd like them to get more trucks," Shirley said. 

WRAL News rode along with Shotwell Landfill site manager Cooper Tharp on Monday to see where the expansion would be built. 

Tharp said that despite the expansion, the trash tonnage or operating hours at the facility would not change.

Landfill leaders are promising zero noise, traffic and industrial impacts if commissioners approve the plan.

Shotwell is one of four landfills in Wake County that only accept construction waste and demolition debris.

"It's all of your new construction or demolition debris that's coming through,” Tharp said. “So, it's not your house garbage or food waste."

Tharp said he believes more space is needed at Shotwell amid what he calls a spike in construction around the eight counties permitted to dump materials at the Smithfield Road landfill. 

"We see that more every day that this land is turning into developments and all of that, with the new construction, generates so much more waste that it has to go to," Tharp said. "That waste has to go somewhere."

In nearby Knightdale, town data shows thousands of residential lots and units have been recently approved. 

Wake County commissioners echoed the construction boom during a workshop Monday.

"We have no lack of construction in the area, so we really need groups like yours helping us out with that," said Board of Commissioners Chair Susan Evans. 

Proposed expansions at Shotwell have come under fire from neighbors and leaders before.

This time, Shirley said she hopes truck traffic does not worsen in the area.

"It's [really] bad traffic," Shirley said. "You can't get out probably from 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. and then 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m."

According to a spokesperson from Shotwell Landfill's owner Meridian Waste, the expansion would add approximately 2.5 million cubic yards of space and extend the facility's life until 2037. 

A public hearing on the proposed expansion is scheduled for 2 p.m. on June 16 at the Wake County Justice Center.