HUNTSVILLE — Waste Management received support of local officials Tuesday in its effort to modify the design of its Eco-Vista Landfill in Tontitown and increase its disposal capacity to its previously approved level.

The board of the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District, which includes Madison and Washington counties, unanimously approved a resolution supporting the expansion.

Tontitown, the host city for the landfill, has already approved a similar resolution supporting the change. The company’s next step is to submit an application to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality for a permit allowing the new disposal area, officials explained.

District Director Maylon Rice recommended the board approve the change, saying the landfill provides needed disposal capacity that had already been approved. The company is simply moving its expansion area, he explained. The move will involve 33 acres not previously been planned for disposal.

The district approval process went more smoothly this time than it did in 2001 when Waste Management sought to expand its landfill. A group of nearby property owners, led by George Zeiler, convinced the board of what was then the Tri-County Solid Waste District to deny the landfill company’s request for a certificate of need.

The director of the Department of Environmental Quality overruled the district’s decision and granted the certificate of need. The landfill expansion was eventually permitted and the Arkansas Supreme Court, in 2006, upheld the director’s decision.

No one spoke against Tuesday’s request, which does not require a certificate of need. Waste Management still has disposal space available under its existing certificate of need for up to 10 million cubic yards of trash, according to agency and company officials.

The existing permitted disposal site at the landfill, which is expected to last until 2016, uses up about 4.5 million cubic yards of the space, leaving the company with an additional 5.5 million in capacity, agency officials explained.

Tuesday’s request includes reconfiguring additional capacity so the expansion is horizontal, instead of vertical, as initially planned, officials said.

David Conrad, a Waste Managmenet engineer, told board members the original plans included disposing of trash between two landfill mounds, but said the state indicated it would will not permit it. As a result, the company decided to seek the second phase of its expansion on the new 33-acre site. Once the expansion is complete, the facility is projected to last until 2027, he said.

Waste Management officials told board members the company is building a power plant at the landfill to convert methane gas into electricity. The plant is scheduled for completion in November and could power up to 5,000 homes, Conrad said.