GROUP FILES SUIT OVER LANDFILL TALKS

JACKSON -- Although the Jackson Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a contract with Allied Waste Management Inc. to operate the city's landfill Monday, the decision was not supported by county residents living near the site.

In fact, the Cape Girardeau County Concerned Citizens -- a group organized Feb. 6 to oppose further development of the city landfill -- has filed a lawsuit against the city, challenging its decision to hold several meetings over the landfill in closed sessions.

Glen Birk, president of the group, said Tuesday he was disappointed with the council's decision.

"We feel the council did not give us any consideration whatsoever," said Birk. "We stated our opinion and they just ignored us."

Federal regulations imposing strict requirements on the operation of landfills, which take effect April 9, has forced the city council to move quickly to find a solution.

"The requirements made it financially impossible for the city to continue to operate the landfill," said Jackson Mayor Paul Sander in a statement released Monday. "The city council explored every alternative to closing the landfill and made every effort to continue to operate the landfill without private assistance."

The April deadline left the city little time to finalize an agreement for the landfill.

"Hard decisions had to be made before April 9," said Sander. "This has required some degree of silence on the part of the city, since it would not have been possible to negotiate in public."

On Monday, Joseph Russell, an attorney hired by the citizens group, filed a writ with the circuit court which would compel the council to produce all records of the closed meeting and would set aside any action taken as a result of the closed meetings. The court granted the group a preliminary writ.

"The council was not aware of the writ last night when it voted to approve the contract," said Russell. "It was served upon the city today."

Russell was not sure where the group and the city stood since the council had already approved the contract with Allied Waste, but promised the group will pursue whatever avenues necessary to resolve the conflict.

"We believe that the action which resulted from the closed meetings is improper," said Russell. "We think the council should have had open meetings from the start."

The citizens group is concerned about the safety of its well water, increased traffic on the county roads to the landfill, and trash and debris that blows onto private property from the landfill or off of uncovered trucks loaded with solid waste en route to the landfill.

Most of the 30 members of the group live along County Road 341 and 335, near the landfill.

But the city feels it did respond to the citizens' concerns.

"The county residents along County Road 341 were afforded ample opportunity to express their concerns to city officials," Sander said. "The concerns of these residents along County Road 341 were taken into consideration and have been addressed in the Allied contract."

The contract specifically addresses:

-- Road maintenance. Allied is to contribute $66,000 to the resurfacing of County Road 341, providing a 6-inch crushed stone base with 3 inches of asphaltic concrete surfacing. The company is also required to contribute $5,000 annually to the upkeep of the road.

-- Groundwater and well contamination. The new federal regulations require that all excavations to receive waste be lined with an impermeable plastic membrane which will prevent the leakage of water from the landfill. A pipe collection system will be installed to collect all water which infiltrates the ground surface.

"The present system has none of these safety measures and has been operating for 15 years," said Sander.

Allied has also agreed to exhume the 15 acres of waste deposited by the city and re-deposit the waste within the plastic membrane.

-- Litter. The contract with Allied requires that "unusual" effort be made to control litter. According to terms of the contract, Allied will patrol the area on a regular basis and will attempt to require all users of the landfill to provide a cover over all waste delivered to the landfill. Fees for uncovered waste will be increased.

"The elected officials of the city of Jackson have taken every step possible to ensure the taxpaying citizens of Jackson that we faithfully exercised our duties in a financially responsible manner," said Sander. "Jackson has endeavored to keep the cost to the local homeowner for trash collection and disposal at the lowest possible monthly charge."