Could it be that the Mallard Lake landfill, a 27-year dream by JM Corp., will finally rise into the sky, like a trash and garbage Phoenix, east of Anderson? After some recent developments, longtime critics are concerned.

The Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association, established in 1979 to fight the landfill, is voicing its concerns, worried that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has dropped the ball.

“I think there’s a common feeling that we’ve spent years doing most of the heavy lifting,” said David Sumner, president of KCCA. “At this point, legally, there’s nothing else we can do.”

The worry stems from a recent decision by IDEM to drop its appeal concerning its denial of a landfill permit renewal to JM Corp. Instead IDEM and JM Corp. are pursuing a settlement that could eventually give the green light to the landfill.

Amy Hartsock, public information officer at IDEM, said the two sides are in discussion but said the appeal was still in place.

She did say, however, that “we will agree to withdraw our appeal if there is a settlement agreement.”



(DROPCAP HERE) Since JM Corp. first applied for a landfill permit in 1979, the process has had to be updated every five years. In a recent renewal application, Hartsock said JM Corp. didn’t get the necessary information to IDEM on time and asked for an extension.

“For us to process, the information must be complete,” she said. “The information we requested was not provided.” IDEM denied JM’s request for an extension.

“We believe our decision was a good one,” said Hartsock, but JM Corp. was able to keep its dream alive.

Hartsock said there isn’t a technical or scientific objection to IDEM’s denial of the renewal application, and added that the denial was based on administrative procedure.

“When IDEM makes a decision, anyone who has an objection or thinks we made a mistake can appeal,” she said, and that’s what JM did.

The company’s appeal was heard by the Office of Environmental Adjudication, a legal but independent arm of IDEM. The OEA ruled for JM in October 2004. IDEM appealed that decision to Marion County Superior Court where it currently stands, at least until the settlement agreement is reached.

Sue Shadley, an attorney for JM Corp., wouldn’t comment except to say she was “nervous to talk until the settlement is worked out.” She added that the settlement should be forthcoming in a month.

Hartsock said IDEM is aware of concerns surrounding the landfill and said IDEM would look at environmental concerns, but the agency’s hands are tied on a lot of issues.

For example, Madison County residents worry that the landfill will see increased truck traffic on County Road 300 North, where Killbuck Elementary School is located. Another concern is the Anderson Municipal Airport where federal regulations prohibit landfills within six miles of an airport because of a proliferation of birds.

IDEM doesn’t taken these matters into consideration. The agency is only concerned that its solid waste rules are met at the landfill site, according to Hartsock.

“Some of these issues, such as traffic, we’re not provided the authority to address,” said Hartsock.

IDEM, she said, looks at applicable rules to make sure the agency is technically and legally sound.

“This is a very emotional issue,” said state Sen. Tim Lanane who, with other local officials attended a meeting with IDEM representatives on March 7. “IDEM’s appeal is based on a narrow issue of law and how IDEM construed one of its laws,” Lanane said. “If this permit were being sought today (a landfill) couldn’t be located there. I’m disappointed IDEM threw in the towel.”

Because the permit was issued so many years ago, county zoning cannot prohibit the landfill.

“Zoning wouldn’t matter to the state,” said Hartsock. “Once a site is in place, changes are difficult to make in a renewal application.”

Lanane said the current permit is for a 13-acre piece of land and the expected life of a landfill that size is five years.

“If (JM Corp.) wanted to expand it out, it would be difficult for them to do,” said Lanane. An expansion would require a new permit process. “A new expansion would be under new rules,” Lanane said.



(DROPCAP) HERE) KCCA was not the only group up in arms over the recent IDEM decision. The meeting on March 7 brought condemnation of the decision by local officials who would have to deal with a landfill.

“Given all the information we have, we are opposed to the landfill,” said Tim Long, superintendent of Anderson Community Schools.

“This area just outside the city is one of the most stable housing areas,” said Mayor Kevin Smith. “There’s a natural springs running through (the proposed landfill area); there’s a new housing development less than a mile away; and the airport is a concern because it’s an economic development selling point to the city.”

When asked what the city would do next, Smith said, “I don’t know. We’re carefully exploring our options.”

City attorney David Happe echoed the mayor’s concerns in a March 3 letter to IDEM: “The landfill is a deterrent to development in an otherwise very desirable locale.” Happe encouraged the agency to “explore the possibility of adopting an expiration date for unused landfill permits by way of the agency’s rule-making authority.”

Another letter to IDEM, from J.R. Builta, an attorney for Anderson’s Board of Aviation Commissioners, stated the board’s deep disappointment with IDEM’s decision to settle.

“If this landfill is built, the Anderson Municipal Airport could lose millions of dollars in federal grants over just the next few years.”

Madison County is taking a wait-and-see attitude. County attorney Gerald Shine said he expects litigation will not end despite the outcome of IDEM’s decision to settle. The KCCA or the county could enter legal action, and, in fact, according to Shine, an initial suit filed by the KCCA against JM Corp. would resume.

Sumner thinks people should put pressure on the county commissioners “who so far have done nothing to stop (the landfill).”

He points to the fact that County Roads 300 North and 300 east would need to be widened to meet state regulations for landfill access roads.

“The roads are currently 17 feet and state regulations require 22 feet. So how many employees would the county lay off so it can pay for rebuilding these roads?”

In a letter to the county commissioners, IDEM and Gov. Mitch Daniels, Sumner raised the prospect that an out-of-state company is likely waiting to purchase the landfill permit once it is issued after settlement.

“It appears our long battle is ending and the good guys have not won,” Sumner wrote.