OFFICIALS CLOSE TO SELECTING LANDFILL SITE

PERRYVILLE -- Officials of the seven-county solid-waste management district say potential landfill sites should be announced in May, and most people won't have to worry about their neighborhoods being on the list.

Tim Morgan, planner for the Southeast Missouri Solid Waste Management District, said an abundance of sinkholes, caves, steep slopes and streams will keep more than half of the region from being considered.

The district takes in Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry, Madison, St. Francis, Ste. Genevieve and Iron counties.

Despite publicity about the site-selection process, the waste management district hasn't received much input from residents.

"We haven't had many comments about people not wanting the landfill in their backyards, and we've had a quite a few news releases out," Morgan said. "None of the officials are saying they hear objections."

The exception is a large movement in Ste. Genevieve County, where a private company already attempted to put a landfill. Morgan said the chances of a regional facility there are slim due to the county's geographic features and location.

The site committee would prefer an area closer to the center of the district, about where St. Francis, Madison and Perry counties meet.

All the attention on solid waste is a result of Senate Bill 530, passed in 1990 to reduce the amount of waste put in Missouri landfills. Cities and counties are required to form districts and submit solid-waste management plans to the Department of Natural Resources.

The department recently returned Southeast Missouri's district plan with suggested revisions, most pertaining to the timetable for implementing Senate Bill 530's requirements. Morgan submitted a four-year outline for waste reduction; the DNR wanted a 10-year outline.

While Morgan makes revisions, the district's solid-waste consultant, R.W. Beck Consulting of St. Paul, Minn., is completing a feasibility and cost analysis for the landfill. Thomas Tucker, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, said planning would stop if Beck's studies show a landfill isn't feasible for the area. If it is feasible, the consultant will continue with site analysis and actual design.

Dues collected from municipalities and counties in the district, which will amount to $100,000 this year, pay the consultant and other expenses.

The city of Cape Girardeau is a member of the district. Doug Leslie, public works director, said Cape Girardeau's solid-waste management is comparable with larger cities like Springfield and Columbia. Residents put their solid waste on the curb twice a week: once for trash and once for recyclables.

Residents can put out three 32-gallon bags of trash each week. Extra bags must be purchased for excess trash. So far, the system has worked well for Cape Girardeau.

"We have always had a market for our recyclable materials," Leslie said. "Any money received goes back into the program, but that only pays a portion of the program's expenses."

When the regional landfill is complete, probably late 1997 or early 1998, a resource recovery facility will accompany it. Cape Girardeau likely will join the district in marketing recyclables.

The city's contract with Lemmons Landfill in Stoddard County expires about the time the regional landfill should be finished.