ALLIED WASTE MANAGEMENT WILL CLOSE JACKSON MUNICIPAL LANDFILL BY APRIL 8

JACKSON -- The Jackson city landfill, which has generated considerable controversy and a lawsuit by property owners who live near the facility, is tentatively scheduled to close April 8.

The unexpected announcement was made near the end of Monday's Jackson Board of Aldermen meeting by City Attorney David Beeson.

Beeson said he was notified this week by officials of Allied Waste Management -- who signed a long-term lease with the city earlier this month to operate the landfill -- that test borings done last week at the landfill revealed large, underground voids.

Beeson said the company drilled ten test bores. He said, "Two of the holes revealed there were large voids, one of which was 18 foot. This made Allied Waste Management officials fearful that the landfill would not comply with the Subtitle D regulations (that take effect April 9) and that it was not worth putting more money into it. They pulled their drill rigs off the landfill site after finding the two voids."

Beeson said Allied Waste Management officials advised him they plan to close the Jackson Landfill -- at Allied's expense -- on April 8, one day before the new EPA Subtitle D regulations take effect.

Under current regulations, Allied will have six months to complete the closure process. As a part of the contract, the company will also be responsible for the post-closure costs of the landfill.

Beeson said Allied plans to build a solid waste transfer station at the site of the landfill to receive solid waste, which will be taken to a new landfill near Dexter. The company will operate the transfer station for a 20-year period under the terms of the contract signed earlier this month.

Until the transfer station is opened, the city will begin transporting the city's solid waste to the Stoddard County landfill, located north of Dexter.

Mayor Paul Sander emphasized the development is a positive one for the city and the citizens of Jackson. He said, "All other parts of the solid waste contract with Allied will remain in force. Allied will dig up the existing 15-acre landfill. The city will have a reduced rate tipping fee at the landfill, and a reduced rate when the transfer station is opened.

"When it's all said and done, we will eventually have no landfill out there. It will only be a transfer station. Allied will be leasing the property that was a landfill for their transfer station for a period of 20 years."

Beeson said the closure of the landfill also means traffic on the road to the new transfer station will be about what it is now ... mostly solid waste trucks from the city of Jackson.

Beeson told the aldermen this unexpected development was a major reason to have the contract in force before the test borings were made. "If this had come out before the contract was signed, we would not be in very good shape," he observed.

After the meeting, the mayor said Allied "had basically gambled that they could operate a landfill out there, and lost. As far as the city and the citizens of Jackson are concerned, nothing has changed."

On the day after the city signed the contract with Allied Waste Management, a group of property owners who opposed the lease of the landfill, filed a lawsuit to block the sale. It is not known at this time what impact the impending closure of the landfill will have on the lawsuit.