WASTE NOT: JACKSON OFFICIALS CONFUSED OVER LANDFILL STATUS

JACKSON -- City officials in Jackson expressed surprise and dismay this week over a report that the Jackson landfill may be closed in October by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources because it does not comply with new federal landfill regulations.

Officials who attended a regional meeting about solid waste disposal Wednesday were equally unclear about the status.

An article in Monday's Southeast Missourian was accompanied by a graphic denoting two landfills in Cape Girardeau County.

One, operated by the city of Cape Girardeau, is scheduled to be closed in October. The other, owned by the city of Jackson, had a question mark over it, indicating that the landfill may be closed by Oct. 8.

Asked about the closure, Jackson City Administrator Carl Talley told a reporter, "I suggest you contact the DNR. I've heard the rumor floating around about the impending closure of our landfill, but I have not been informed by the state of anything as to the status of our landfill. I presume they (DNR) have something in mind they're not telling us. I'm waiting to hear from them."

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander said he didn't know about possible closure of the landfill until he saw the article in the paper. Jackson aldermen discussed it briefly at their Monday meeting.

A DNR official in Poplar Bluff said Jackson was aware of the new landfill regulations and what is required to bring the landfill into compliance with the new EPA landfill regulations.

However, Talley said he has examined the landfill regulations. "We're getting conflicting interpretations on what the law says. I have paperwork that says we could go (operate the landfill) until April 1994," he said.

Sander said closing the landfill on such short notice would have a major impact, not only on Jackson, but on other area municipalities and industries that use the landfill. The only other operating landfill in this area is located north of Dexter, on Highway 25.

The Jackson landfill is located south of Highway 34, a few miles west of Jackson, on a 100-acre site. According to Talley, the landfill supposedly has a life of 25-30 years.

The reason for the uncertainty over the landfill is a new federal regulation, Sub-Section D, that takes effect Oct. 9. Unless the state of Missouri becomes an approved state to enforce solid waste laws, the new federal law would ban landfills in most of the state.

The DNR has applied to become an approved state, but according to Monday's article, the DNR has not yet received permission to grant any permits for any landfills in the state, although state officials say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will make sure the state does in time for the Oct. 8 deadline

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said he was unaware the Jackson landfill might be closed by the DNR.

Huckstep is chairman of the Region 8 Southeast Missouri Solid Waste Management Committee that was formed to seek ways for counties north of Scott and Stoddard counties to comply with the new landfill regulations. It is considering plans to operate a regional landfill in this part of the state, but no decision has been made at this time.

"Until I read the article in the paper this week, I was under the assumption that Jackson's landfill was in compliance and would have many years of life," said Huckstep.

On Wednesday, Sander, Talley, Huckstep and about 37 officials representing the seven-county Region 8 area met in Fredericktown to discuss the Oct. 8 deadline. None were optimistic when they returned.

"Everything is in mass confusion. It is extremely frustrating to me as a an elected county official," said Huckstep.

Sander agreed. "It was very frustrating. There were a lot of questions that were not answered at the meeting. If they go through with the October deadline, we'll have to close the landfill, unless we can get some kind of an extension," the mayor said. "If we close the landfill, my question is what are all these people going to do with their trash?"

Sander said based on what little information he has been able to obtain, he feels the federal government wants to make it so difficult for Jackson to comply with the new regulations that it will close the landfill rather than comply.

"We do not want to close our landfill. It is a well-run and professionally operated landfill, and currently meets all rules and regulations," he said. "I believe the federal government is trying to force us to close the landfill, based on unreasonable and questionable requirements."

Huckstep complained the EPA's time frame for compliance is "totally unrealistic and unattainable."

He also noted that many counties and cities in this area of the state cannot afford to pay the higher costs involved in solid waste disposal.

"The federal people are telling us what we have to do, but are not giving us the money to meet those requirements. And even if we try, they (EPA) keep changing the rules every time you turn around. What was permissible six months ago is no longer allowed," he said. "It's hard to do any long-range planning with the taxpayer's money when you don't know what the rules will be like in six months or a year from now. It all a little bit silly."

Huckstep also pointed out having only one private company operating the only EPA-approved landfills in this area could affect rates. "If there is no competition, you have no control over how much you have to pay in tipping fees," he noted. "Right now, as far as we know, the only EPA-approved landfills in this area are located in Stoddard and Butler counties, and they're owned by one solid waste management company."

During the meeting, Huckstep appointed a subcommittee to look into options and alternatives should the EPA deny an extension of the October compliance deadline.

"The committee will contact (U.S. Rep.) Emerson and (U.S. Sens.) Bond and Danforth's offices to express our feelings at being put into a position like this, at no fault of our own or the county," said Sander.

Huckstep praised the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission for its assistance to the Region 8 committee. "They have really done their best to try to get some answers to our questions, but they're not getting any cooperation from the federal government," said Huckstep.

"What's happening here is not the fault of any city or county. We've been put into a position of being dictated to by the EPA as to what we have to do, but nobody is giving us concrete information or specific answers to questions we have about the requirements.

"I have begged and preached to the other counties in our region that they do not realize how serious the landfill problem is. Everyone seems to have solutions to the problem, but the solutions cost money, and lots of municipalities and counties in this region do not have a lot of money," he said.

"And after the floodwater goes down and the extent of damage can be seen, a lot of these towns and counties are going to have a lot less money. Some of them are going to be busted."