Nashville-based environmental land use lawyer Elizabeth Murphy sent a letter to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) late last week questioning whether permitting a second landfill in Scott County on a 700-acre tract of land adjacent to the existing 800-acre Volunteer Regional landfill near Oneida is legal.
This comes several weeks after residents of Scott County formed a non-profit corporation, Cumberland Clear, with intentions to organize a grassroots campaign against the proposed landfill. Kathy Obrusanszki, the group’s president, says they retained Murphy to help fight the development.
“They've made mistakes,” Obrusanszki said. “And luckily, we've done the research to find those mistakes. So we intend to get all of our community behind us and push this and win.”
The letter sent by Murphy points out several irregularities in the landfill’s permit applications, including disregard of Scott County’s 1989 adoption of the Jackson Law, a provision which allows Tennessee counties to forbid construction of new landfills – if they opt into it.
It’s unclear whether Scott County was opted into the Jackson Law when developers submitted permits earlier this year, however. In a letter sent by TDEC’s general counsel to county officials in 2010, the regulator said that because the county adopted an earlier version of the law which had an expiration date, it would have to re-adopt the law if it wished to keep it. The County Commission re-adopted the law in June of this year, after they learned that developers had submitted the landfill permit applications to TDEC.
“And solid waste industry all across Tennessee use those loopholes,” said Jennifer Shockley, Cumberland Clear’s secretary. “They specifically look for … these agricultural rural areas that don't have Jackson Law in place. They know that all they have to do is purchase the land and apply for the permit and they don't have to ask anyone's permission.”
If a county has adopted the Jackson Law, its legislative body has to approve proposed landfill development before it can be submitted to TDEC for review. According to the letter, the landfill developers in Scott County never sought this approval, and therefore the state regulator cannot take any action on its permits.
“The necessary Jackson Law approval … remains missing,” the letter reads. “The record shows no such plan or map submitted to Scott County or approved under the Jackson Law.”
In addition, the letter claims that TDEC has bypassed Scott County’s solid waste board, which is required by state law to approve landfill proposals before they can move on to the state regulator for approval.
“[TDEC] quite blatantly disregarded the law here as well,” Murphy’s letter reads. “The law is straightforward and requires a plan be submitted to the ‘region’ with public notice.”
At a meeting of the Scott County Solid Waste Board last week, board members were set to vote on a letter to TDEC telling them they “don’t need a second or subsequent landfill in Scott County,” in an attempt to assert their local right to reject the plan. However, the board didn’t have a quorum, and will have to attempt to reconvene later this month before the letter can be sent.
Ralph Trieschmann is a businessman who lives in Scott County that has been working closely with Cumberland Clear. He’s convinced the county has more rights than TDEC has let on.
“It’s rather clear that this permit should not have been issued and it should not be issued ever again,” Trieschmann said. “The area around here is well served by an existing landfill. There is not a need demonstrated by anybody for a second one.”
The Scott and McCreary County Environmental Coalition, an alliance between local governments in the two counties formed to oppose the landfill, has also retained a lawyer for the fight. Earlier this month the group met in executive session with Nashville-based lawyer Lisa Helton, who previously represented the City of Murfreesboro in its fight against the expansion of the Middle Point landfill. It's unclear when, or if, the group will file in court.
Cumberland Clear Treasurer Alison Cowen says the efforts to organize and fight the development is a testament to the resolve of the community.
“We've got great neighbors, we've got people who truly care and with all of us coming together, I think we can do this,” she said.
