SCOTT CITY PLANT OFFICIAL DISPUTES CLAIMS

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- An official with Millennium Environmental Services of Missouri Inc. said Monday that the company expects to quickly resolve all issues that prompted a state lawsuit and to reopen for business.

Larry Fry, the company's vice president for operations, said the lawsuit, filed June 14 in Scott County Circuit Court by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, took the company by surprise.

"We had met with the attorney general almost two weeks ago, and there was no mention of a lawsuit at that time," Fry said.

Millennium owns a hazardous-waste treatment facility at 3100 Industrial Fuel Drive in Scott City. The lawsuit seeks to revoke the company's operating permit with the Department of Natural Resources.

Fry said he still hadn't seen the lawsuit but will meet Monday in Jefferson City, Mo., with representatives of the attorney general.

"I want to get all of the issues out on the table and find out what we need to do to make everybody at the state level happy," Fry said.

Scott Holste, a spokesman for the attorney general, confirmed that the meeting is tentatively scheduled. As to the whether the lawsuit blindsided the company, Holste couldn't offer details as the assistant attorney general handling the case was unavailable Monday.

"With the previous citations by the Department of Natural Resources at this site over a period of several years, that certainly could not have led company officials to conclude that the state was going to go away on this issue," Holste said.

DNR allegations

The lawsuit lists various citations from DNR inspectors alleging the facility had stored more waste than allowed under the permit, stored incompatible wastes together and stored waste in containers that weren't in good condition.

Fry, who is working at the site this week, said those problems have been rectified. He also said the facility doesn't pose an environmental danger, and neither needs nor is required to have personnel on-site at all times as demanded by Nixon.

"It's not a hazard," Fry said. "That's not the law at all."

But he doesn't dispute one concern raised by the state -- that the company experienced financial problems.

A check for $14,177.75 from Millennium to the state for inspection fees and other costs bounced in March. Electric and gas service to the facility were disconnected in April due to nonpayment.

But Fry says the state's claim that it is nearly $54,000 short on the financial guarantee required under its permit to ensure the facility could be properly closed is false.

"There is a fully paid insurance policy in effect for that facility that has been prepaid for three years," Fry said.

Fry said the company's financial woes stemmed from the fact that customers owed it between $250,000 and $300,000.

With much money going out, "simultaneously our customers stopped paying their bills, which was the final karate chop for us," Fry said.

A financial partner with a $400,000 line of credit has been secured to bail out the company, Fry said. He declined to identify the investor pending completion of the deal. That is dependent on a favorable resolution with the state, he said.

"We intend to get this facility running," Fry said. "We'll have it operational within 30 days of the decision."

The facility would employ approximately 12 workers in one shift should it go back into operation, Fry said. Long term goals for the plant include a new "premier, state of the art" waste-processing building along with other upgrades and eventually going to three shifts.