By Aleasha Sandley
ANDERSON — The constitutionality of an Indiana law requiring a proposed Madison County landfill to go through a review process again will be decided only after a judge rules on three pretrial motions.
Attorneys on both sides of the case expect a decision from Madison County Superior Court Judge Dennis Carroll any day on whether he will grant a change of venue, change of judge and addition of county officials as a party to the lawsuit that attempts to force owners of the proposed Mallard Lake Landfill to adhere to Senate Bill 43, passed earlier this year.
The bill would require the landfill, near county roads 300 North and 300 East in Madison County, to go back through the review process it underwent almost 30 years ago when it was first approved. The site has sat empty since first proposed in 1979 due to several challenges to its permit process.
Larry Whitham, Indianapolis-based attorney for the Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association, a local group opposed to the landfill, filed a lawsuit seeking declaratory judgment that J.M. Corp., owned by Ralph Reed, the landfill’s developers, adhere to the law, which states any landfill zoned more than 20 years ago should be reviewed by local authorities.
“We believe this statute clearly applies to the Reed landfill,” Whitham said. “Our contention is that this statute has said when you have a situation that’s that old, the local authorities should be given the authority to consider that based on today’s situation. The Reed landfill clearly is impacted and it clearly is required to go back before the Madison County authorities.”
But Ron Fowler, attorney representing J.M. Corp., said Senate Bill 43 was created by Indiana General Assembly members from Madison County who tailored the bill specifically to target Mallard Lake.
“It’s special legislation,” Fowler said. “They took other legislation and changed it to meet Madison County. I have serious doubts of its constitutionality.”
The bill only applies to landfills that had sat empty up until April 1. In March, J.M. Corp. posted a sign that it was open to the public and collected two Dumpsters of waste so it would be active before April 1.
“Even if (the law) is constitutional, which it probably isn’t, we’ve complied anyway,” Fowler said. “It was easy to go ahead and do that, and we have a right to do that.”
Before the law’s constitutionality is decided, Carroll must decide whether to grant Fowler’s motion that the county be added as a party to the lawsuit, an action Fowler said was necessary because the county would be directly involved in issuing Mallard Lake’s permits. Carroll also will decide whether to grant the trial a change in venue and judge based upon the county’s involvement.
The judge already had granted a change of venue and addition of the county as a party, but withdrew his ruling after giving both sides more time to submit information.
A trial on the bill’s application to Mallard Lake might not be on the docket for several months, Whitham said.
J.M. Corp. was working with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to get its landfill permit renewed when the KCCA filed what Reed calls a “nuisance lawsuit.”
“We’ve never lost in court,” Reed said. “We went through every legal thing we had to do when we went for zoning. We had a construction and operating permit. We’re going to get our permit back and it will get open.”
KCCA Chairman Bill Kutschera worries about the landfill’s location because it is within yards of Killbuck Elementary School and sits on top of major aquifers that serve Madison County and Anderson, he said.
“Contamination to our water supply is as big a problem as it is a danger to our kids,” Kutschera said. “It’s a lousy location for a landfill.”
Reed bought the land for the landfill when he saw a need for one in the county, investing about $5 million in the project over the years, he said.
“I seen the need for a landfill, so that’s when we bought this farm, never dreaming that 30 years later I’d still be standing here talking about it,” Reed said.
Fowler said the county spends about $1.8 million a year, and Anderson spends about $780,000 having its trash hauled out of the county. As the city gets ready to renew its trash contract, Fowler and Reed hoped to have the landfill ready for county trash storage.
“It’s very costly for the taxpayers (to haul the trash out of the county), and I’m getting tired of that as a taxpayer,” Fowler said.
But Kutschera questions whether the landfill really would house Madison County trash. Representatives from J.M. Corp. have indicated they would sell the landfill to companies interested in storing trash from the East Coast, Kutschera said.
Kutschera also said J.M. Corp.’s claims that the average Madison County resident pays about $100 a month to have their waste hauled out-of-county are false, citing his own bill, which adds up to about $17 a month.
Reed is confident that after almost 30 years, his persistence in opening the Mallard Lake Landfill will pay off.
“It’s a little like a card game,” he said. “You got a winning hand and people keep upping the ante and you know you’re right.”
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What’s next?
Madison County Superior Court Judge Dennis Carroll will decide whether to grant a change in venue, change in judge and/or addition of Madison County officials as parties to a lawsuit involving Mallard Lake Landfill. The suit will decide whether the landfill is subject to an Indiana law that would require it to go through the review process by local authorities. Once the pretrial motions are decided, the lawsuit will continue with a trial in the coming months.
