Waste Not, Want Not
Hixson Holdings, LLC, has been issued a $1,000 fine by the city of McMinnville for inadvertently discharging sewer onto the ground at its facility located at 191 Industrial Drive.
“Our staff went over there because of the proposed project,” said City Administrator Nolan Ming, referring to the proposed construction of a 97,000-square-foot data center. “We were doing our due diligence to make sure the infrastructure we had there was adequate for the project that was being proposed. This wasn’t just a random inspection.”
Notice of the wastewater violation was issued by the McMinnville Water and Wastewater Department on Thursday, June 4. The notice stating in part, “It has been determined that the property located at 191 Industrial Dr. in McMinnville, TN is in violation of the City of McMinnville’s Code of Ordinances title 18 and the Clean Water Act through the introduction of pollutants into the environment. We completed a site visit and inspection which resulted in clear evidence of illegal discharge.”
“I had heard through the grapevine that they were going to use like three million gallons of water a year,” said director Ricky Morton. “With 365 days, that’s a little over 8,200 gallons a day. Normally, if you come into city hall and say ‘I’m going to build whatever it is,’ the first thing we are going to look at is our infrastructure to make sure it can handle whatever demand is put on the system. I went over on Monday to look at their pump station to make sure they had the proper equipment and determine if it could handle a flow of 8,000 per day. I had already checked to see what the building used to use and it was far less than that. That’s when I saw that the station was down and had overflowed.”
On Wednesday, June 3, during special called session of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, members unanimously voted to place an 18-month moratorium on issuing permits for such projects. Mayor Ryle Chastain criticized the company and outside media sources for disseminating inaccurate information to the community and creating unnecessary community unrest.
Ming and Morton both deny that the city’s intent in issuing the violation and fine was retaliatory in nature.
“I can understand that that can be perceived without any knowledge in the fact that when these types of projects come up, we always go out and check to make sure the infrastructure we have is adequate to meet the needs of that development. If they hadn’t brought this project up, there wouldn’t have been a need to go out there. So, that’s how we ended up out there. No one wants sewer on the ground,” said Ming.
Morton added, “I, also, went there on Monday because of Wednesday night’s meeting. If the board had questions, I needed to be able to answer them. To me, this has been blown completely out of proportion. This has nothing to do with the controversy surrounding the data center. This is the water department doing what we do. This is part of it. Additionally, if we become aware that there’s an issue and we do nothing, then TDEC will come down on us. TDEC has been made aware and we’ve submitted the administrative order and the fine. The order outlines everything they have to do to keep sewer off the ground and what we expect them to do.”
This is the second violation noticed issued to Hixson Holdings, LLC, by the city of McMinnville. The first, associated with the city’s Stormwater Ordinance, did not include a monetary penalty.
“In late 2025, they were issued a violation in relation to our stormwater ordinance,” said Ming. “They were pumping sewage onto the ground, and we found out. We went out and told them to cease and desist. They complied. When we went out and re-inspected, they were no longer pumping sewer onto the ground. So, we closed that out.”
The Warren County Way reached out to Alex Hixson for comment. However, no reply. If there are comments from the Hixsons, this article will be updated.
According to Ming and Morton, the response from Hixson Holdings, LLC, regarding the violation was swift. Both stated that workers were on site Friday morning making the necessary corrections.
Photos provided to the Warren County Way
