Humboldt County residents have been hearing more and more about a proposal to ship millions of tons of waste from the Bay Area to the desert west of Winnemucca.

Sometime in the coming weeks they will have the chance to tell local officials what they think of the idea. Monday, a joint meeting of the Humboldt County Commission and Winnemucca City Council voted to schedule a town hall meeting on the issue.

Recology, a firm which holds waste disposal contracts for a number of California counties, is seeking to build a landfill at Jungo Flat, a desert playa 28 miles west of town.

If built, it could eventually receive as much as 4-thousand tons of waste, shipped five days a week by rail from the Bay Area.

The proposal received a conditional special use permit from the county Regional Planning Agency two years ago, but opposition to the idea has been growing in recent weeks.

A citizens group, Nevadans Against Garbage, says it has gathered more than 14-hundred signatures on petitions opposing the dump.

Commissioner Tom Fransway, who opposes the project, says no vote will be taken at the Town Hall meeting, but he welcomes the input.

No date has been set, but it appeas likely the meeting will be held in November.