Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Roebuck gets earful on landfill

Not in my back yard, was the word State Rep. Tommy Roebuck got at a town meeting in Gurdon concerning a proposed landfill in the Smithton Community.

Roebuck said he'd received several phone calls and e-mails concerning the landfill, and told the citizens gathered at the Gurdon City Hall there was little he could do until it reached the state level, but would do what he could in the interim.

It was pointed out residents had attended meetings concerning the landfill, but weren't allowed to speak as they weren't elected officials. However, it was also said, "experts" were allowed to speak.

This didn't set well with the residents.

Gurdon Mayor Clayton Franklin gave some background on the proposed landfill.

He said Clark County is part of a three-county solid waste district, with the other two being Garland and Hot Spring counties.

The South Central Regional Solid Waste Management District has been looking for a place to build a landfill within its borders for years, and settled on the Smithton Community after tests showed the land suitable for a class I landfill.

Franklin said the district contacted International Paper, the landowner, about buying 246 acres.

The land, Franklin said, was appraised at $139,000 unless there was some kind of dump on it, in which case the value jumped to $282,000. The district opted to pay the higher amount, or roughly twice what the land is worth.

"It is my opinion," he said, "if Clark County stands united against it, the others would be hard pressed to put it in."

The Clark County Quorum Court, he said, has opposed it, as has the Gurdon City Council. However, the Arkadelphia City Council has said nothing either way, though it has been asked to support the opposition.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Franklin continued, must approve the permit, which could make it a political situation, wherein Roebuck and State Sen. Percy Malone could help.

Joe Ball, he added, is the director of the Southwest Regional Solid Waste Management District, and has offered to allow Clark County to send its garbage to the Nashville location. Before a decision is made on this, though, cost feasibility studies must be done to find out if it's affordable.

There have been three other instances where counties asked to be moved from one solid waste district to another, and all three were approved by the ADEQ, he said.

Roebuck said Ball is a friend of his and has recently been appointed to the ADEQ board of directors. He promised to get in touch with Ball on the matter and see what can be done to prevent the landfill from being built in the Smithton area.

Smithton residents spoke up, saying one of the reasons they're there is because they wanted to be out in the country and away from traffic.

In some instances, it was said, the road will have to be widened, and drivers would literally be able to look into people's homes as they drove by.

Franklin said 13 sites were identified as being feasible for a landfill in the three county area, with only one being in the Hot Springs region.

"I think it was political because of the problems Hot Springs has had with its landfill," he said. "Ideally, a landfill should be centrally located. It doesn't make economic sense to haul garbage from Hot Springs to Gurdon."

According to Franklin, sites in the Donaldson and Friendship area would be better as they are isolated and have fewer people living there.

Engineers, he said, say a landfill can be built anywhere with today's technology, and clay could be shipped to the site if it proved to be necessary.

"I don't want it anywhere near the bottomland," said David Maxwell. "I have friends there and in Curtis. I don't want it anywhere around here."

Roebuck agreed the landfill is a major concern for Gurdon area residents, and that it's an economic thing with the value of the surrounding land involved. "Let me know what goes on," he said, "and if it gets to the state level we need a bus load of people to go to Little Rock and talk."

Franklin said landfills do generate a lot of money, but none of it would be coming to Gurdon.

Henry Wilson, a representative of the NAACP, said the easiest thing may be for Clark County to join the other waste district.

Wilson said he was at the meeting to get information for the NAACP and see if the organization needs to get involved. "We'll see if the NAACP needs to get involved on the state level."

Roebuck promised to keep up with this issue and said a public hearing could be held in Little Rock before the committee.

At this time, he said, the problem is the lack of information.