JACKSON LANDFILL CLOSED; TRANSFER STATION TO OPEN

JACKSON -- Allied Waste Management has been given the OK by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to close the former Jackson landfill and open a transfer station in town.

DNR approved the closure of the landfill last week, clearing the way for Allied and Jackson to finalize a real estate deal that will enable the proposed transfer station to be built. DNR also approved the permit request for the transfer station.

City Administrator Steve Wilson said a contract with Allied would be signed in a couple of weeks for land off Lee Avenue, near the Jackson Industrial Park. He said city crews have been hauling residential trash to a transfer station in Cape Girardeau for over a year. From there, Allied trucks haul the trash to a regional landfill near Dexter.

"We'll be able to save that mileage when we get a transfer station built here," he said. "It's going to be a real benefit to us."

Construction of a transfer station could be completed by March, Wilson said, depending on the weather.

Allied still maintains the landfill and has the opportunity to reopen it with DNR approval.

Wilson said the waste management company is considering a landfill for construction scraps or a monofill -- a landfill where a single product such as plastics or cardboard might be discarded.

"They're still operating under the auspices that they can reopen the landfill at a later date," he said, "but Allied has put surface vegetation in place and it's closed, inspected and (approved) by DNR."