Airport tenants join in landfill fight

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February 8, 2007

Anonymous The Herald Bulletin Thu Feb 08, 2007, 11:24 PM EST

By JUSTIN SCHNEIDER

justin.schneider@heraldbulletin.com

Two local groups are hoping to achieve together what they could not achieve apart.

During a meeting of the Board of Aviation Commissioners on Thursday, representatives of the Killbuck Concerned Citizens Association addressed a shared concern: Mallard Lake Landfill.

“This has been going on for 27 years,” said KCCA President Bill Kutschera. “But we are in the 11th hour and the 59th minute. Our goal is identical in stopping that landfill. It doesn’t do any good for anyone.”

In 1978, JM Corp. announced plans to create a landfill in Madison County. The following year, the company purchased 154 acres at the corner of county roads 300 East and 300 North in rural Richland Township. But the project has been mired in controversy and legal battles for four decades.

The KCCA wants to gain the Anderson Airport Tenants Association as an ally in its legal battle against JM Corp.

In December, a judge in Marion Superior Court Environmental Division affirmed a previous decision to reinstate the company’s landfill permit application and grant a time extension for information. Last month, the 30-day window for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to appeal the decision expired.

“We pay attorney bills every month, and those are paid solely by taxpayer donations,” Kutschera said. “We need your support to keep us going. We may go on the hook, but we will pay it back. ... We need as many honest dollars as we can get.”

Kutschera and KCCA Secretary Sheryl Myers made documentation available containing the KCCA mission statement, summary of the landfill threat and contact information for state and local officials who could influence policy.

The tenants, meanwhile, want to keep their airport. But regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration state that an airport loses federal funding if it is within three miles of a landfill.

Recently, the tenants have mobilized their membership to counter misconceptions about the airport and to overcome recent negative news surrounding fixed-base operator DK&L.; Rumors have also swirled about a proposed airport for Madison County’s Green Township, which would jeopardize the future of the Anderson Municipal Airport.

“The Board of Aviation Commissioners opposes the landfill,” said board member Tony Rogers. “We all care about the airport. We will work together to see what we can do.”

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