JACKSON LANDFILL STUDIED

JACKSON -- The Jackson landfill will remain open for at least six more months because of an extension announced this week by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

The landfill and several others in Southeast Missouri would have been forced to close Friday or Saturday because of stringent requirements announced two years ago by the EPA.

The DNR issued an emergency ruling this week that extends the "Subtitle D" compliance deadline for small, sanitary landfills until April 4.

A DNR spokesman said the extension will allow local governments and operators of landfills that receive less than 100 tons of solid waste per day additional time to decide whether to close the landfills next year and plan for alternate ways of disposing of solid waste.

In addition to the Jackson landfill, the extension also affects landfills in Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties.

The DNR said operators of landfills that are receiving flood debris may also apply for a six-month extension if they can demonstrate the landfill is needed for disposal of flood debris. Landfills receiving flood debris may also request a second extension of up to six months, if requested.

Reacting to the announcement, Mayor Paul Sander said Wednesday that Jackson will use the six-month extension to determine if it is financially feasible to continue to operate the city's landfill after the April deadline.

Said Sander: "The extension will give us time to explore all of our options and to look at the possibility of bringing our landfill into compliance with the new regulations. We have not given up. We are not throwing in the towel on trying to keep the landfill open."

Sander said the city staff will begin a feasibility study to determine what it will cost to bring the landfill into compliance with the new EPA rules.

Sander said: "When the study is completed and all of the data has been gathered, it will be submitted to the board of aldermen. We'll discuss it and decide if the plan is cost effective to the city. In my view and the view of most of the board, if it is cost effective, we will keep the landfill in operation, if at all possible."

Sander said the city wants to keep the landfill open because it still has a lifespan of about 20 years, based on the current daily input of solid waste. "If the landfill had a lifespan of around four to five years, we'd most likely go ahead and close it, since it wouldn't be economically feasible to do all of the work to bring it into compliance and then operate it for only a short period of time.

"We do not want to spend an arm and a leg on the landfill, but on the other hand, if we can continue to operate it in compliance with the new rules on a break-even basis, it would be in the best interests of the city to do so. What we are interested in right now is taking care of the citizens of Jackson and to be able to continue to offer free curbside pickup of solid waste."

Sander said if the city decides to keep the landfill open the board of aldermen would have to make another decision on whether other political subdivisions could continue to use the landfill. Right now other local communities and businesses transport their solid waste to the Jackson landfill.

"The bottom line is, we're going to do everything we can to keep the landfill open. But we may find that it's not cost effective. If so, we'll go ahead and close the landfill. We will not continue to operate the landfill if it would put Jackson in a bad financial position," Sander said.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep, who is chairman of the Region 8 Solid Waste Management Committee, said the six-month extension will "buy more time for the other landfills in the area," including those at Perryville and in Ste. Genevieve.

The Region 8 committee must submit a plan for regional waste management before the end of the year. A part of the plan includes the collection and disposal of solid waste. The committee is studying the possibility of creating a quasi-governmental regional landfill in the area.

"We should have the plan ready to go before the full membership next week," said Huckstep. "I suspect that in addition to discussing the plan, the committee will also discuss solid-waste transfer stations in different parts of our region. I think many of the political subdivisions will combine to put in transfer stations."

The committee will meet Oct. 13 in Fredericktown.