PRINCEVILLE — The new year cannot wash away the problems in eastern North Carolina brought on byHurricane Floyd. There is so much debris, landfills are overflowing.

In Edgecombe County, debris comes to the county's Construction and Demolition Landfill. The three-year-old site was designed to last until 2012, but it will reach its capacity in just a few weeks.

"Based on the amount of demolition and debris material that have come in as a result of Hurricane Floyd, we are at the end of that life. Probably the end of this month will be the end of it,' says Joseph Durham, Edgecombe County Manager.

County leaders saw this coming and are planning to quadruple the size of the site with help fromFEMAand state dollars to help pay for it. Right now, they are not sure how much the expansion will cost.

Piles of building material debris are still a common site in Princeville and parts of Tarboro and will probably be that way for months. County leaders say they have no choice but to find more space to bury the trash.

The first phase of the expansion is scheduled to begin in February. Phase two is expected to begin in February 2001.