Special Use Permit adds years of life to County Landfill

Special Use Permit adds years of life to County Landfill

Expansion without expansion a win- win for city, residents

news@theeveningtimes.com

A little “trash talking” went down as the West Memphis Planning Commission held its final October meeting last week.

Santek Environmental operates the County landfill just outside the city limits and is subject to extra-jurisdictional oversight from West Memphis.

The company recently proposed changes in its operations at the landfill. Those plans were reviewed and a Special Use Permit hearing was conducted at the October meeting. A company official, the County Judge and two city administrators provided input. Judge Woody Wheeless pointed out to commissioners the value of having the landfill so close.

“We are not trying to get any bigger than we already are, but we’re wanting to use the whole hundred acres to extend the life of the landfill,” said Wheeless. “This will help every citizen in Crittenden County if we can do that. If we didn’t have the landfill in this county, everybody would be required to take their trash to Helena-West Helena, and you are talking about major additional expenses to do that.”

City Engineer Phillip Sorrell underscored the benefits.

“There are cost benefits to the city of West Memphis,” said Sorrell. “Our hauling costs and turnaround costs are far less than if we had to haul to a remote location. If we had to go a long way, our sanitation costs would go way up.”

City Planner Paul Luker provided and overview of the project to commissioners and the need for a special permit. According to the Santek application, the landfill operated before city permits were instituted.

“What we are doing is playing catch-up,” said Luker. “The landfill has been operating for years.

According to our zoning regulations, a landfill requires a Special Use Permit. We cannot find where that ever occurred.”

Santek proposed moving their office, maintenance shop and leachate storage tanks across the road. The company wants to set up shop on the east side of Kuhn Road and use the vacated space to extend the life of the landfill. The proposed change adds years to the useful life of the landfill.

Luker noted the proposed expansion stays within the existing footprint.

The Special Use Permit would allow for dirt mining east of the road for the landfill west of Kuhn Road. West Memphis Airport officials, located just to the east of the landfill, have long held concerns about any potential expansion of the landfill. Fears that additional dirt pits would fill with water and attract waterfowl and put pilots in danger of collisions. Concerns that the landfill would top out over the current 280-foot height got notice at the airport, too.

Executive Vice-president of Engineering for Santek, Ron Bell, addressed the issues that emerged during the meeting. He promised to keep the water pumps on to avoid attracting birds and to keep the height of piles down to comply with zoning requirements and assuage concerns from the airport.

“Currently the landfill has about six years of life left,” said Bell. “With this 4.6 acres expansion would give

us an additional seven years of life at current tonnage. We purchased forty

acres across the road.

Seven plus acres of that has been set aside that we are not currently mining dirt.

We’d like to move the scales, scale house, shop, and maybe the leachate tanks. That 4.6 acres (west of the road) would be filled up to its permitted (280 feet above sea level) and we would keep that the same.

It wouldn’t get any higher.” After hearing the details Airport Manager Candra Suiter expressed satisfaction with the plan and commissioners approved the proposal and the Special Use Permit for Santek at

the County landfill.

By John Rech