WORK AT COMPANY ON HOLD; COMMISSION DENIES RESTRAINING ORDER

SCOTT CITY -- The Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commission has denied a temporary restraining order for a Scott City company, meaning the company can no longer operate as a hazardous waste management facility.

Officials at Industrial Fuels and Resources are still in the process of appealing a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) decision to deny them a permit to operate. In August, a Scott County judge ruled the company could continue to operate despite the permit denial by the DNR.

General Manager David Jordan said that while the DNR permit denial does not yet mean the company has shut down completely, only 13 of 125 employees are still working at the plant.

Jordan said damage by a fire in late June caused more than 100 employees to be laid off from the plant, but that the DNR permit denial has meant months of unemployment for workers instead of weeks.

"Right after the fire we asked for permission to rebuild," Jordan said. "We expected to be up to full production by the end of the year. We planned to start back up quickly."

Before the fire and subsequent permit denial, Industrial Fuels had an annual payroll of $1.5 million. A planned expansion would have meant a total of 250 employees and an annual payroll of $2.5 million, Jordan said.

"This has been very frustrating," he said. "No matter what you do there is always another roadblock in your way."

Jordan said the DNR caused months of unnecessary delays for the company by refusing to talk to the company's lawyers and representatives.

The DNR denied the permit in August, saying Industrial Fuels violated the state's Hazardous Waste Management Law. The DNR alleged that the company allowed hazardous wastes to leak out of storage containers, used improper and inadequate containers and storage areas, failed to provide adequate fire and explosion protection and accepted and processed waste for which the facility is not permitted.

Jordan said the DNR's allegations are premature and without merit.

"We're going to go back to court and try to get another stay on the permit denial," he said.