GRAND FORKS - Turtle River Township officials are expected to decide within two months whether to approve a new landfill near Manvel, Grand Forks Public Works Director Todd Feland says.

Grand Forks' existing landfill near the city airport is nearing capacity, and the birds it attracts are a danger to aircraft. The new landfill, which would be built about five miles north of Manvel and owned and operated by the city of Grand Forks, has drawn opposition from rural residents.

They believe the proposed site is vulnerable to overland flooding, and some also fear a drop in land values and litter in area ditches from passing garbage trucks.

"They want to put the new large city dump right in the middle of a very wet piece of land, and they have not adequately considered the characteristics of that land," David Thompson, a member of the opposition group Grand Forks County Citizens Coalition, said Monday at the township's final public hearing on the landfill.

One alternative that has been suggested by landfill opponents is a garbage composting system such as the one used in Rapid City, S.D.

Feland said he understands the opposition, but that the city of Grand Forks has spent a lot of time studying the matter and has acted in good faith.

"We've gone through narrowing down landfill sites, we've purchased this land, we've looked at alternatives to landfills," he said. "We've come to the conclusions that every one of those (alternatives) require a landfill option, and some are less commercially viable than a landfill."

If the township board rejects the landfill, Feland said the city's options would include legal action.

"Our goal is to keep the conversation going with the township board," he said. "We think we have a good project and can work out differences with the board."