Board to hear monofill appeal Tuesday

PALMER — A twice-defeated proposal for an unpopular landfill will return to a public agenda at 10 a.m., today.

The CMS Monofill was most recently rejected by a 3-3 vote Dec. 15, 2014. Officials at the time said they would appeal the decision to the board of adjustment. The monofill site is the lone agenda item for the Tuesday meeting in borough assembly chambers.

Opposition to the project by local residents continues. Many residents who spoke at the December meeting of the borough planning commission said a disposal site west of the Glenn Highway and south of the fairgrounds posed too great a risk to the water table and property values, given a previously punctured aquifer in the area. Farmers told planning commissioners the site had the potential to ruin crops. Other people voiced concerns about fire risks.

Stephanie Nowers, an outspoken opponent of the monofill — essentially a very specialized landfill for construction debris — noted that the Anchorage Assembly recently rejected a proposed CMS site in Chugiak.

“Unfortunately, it’s clear the owners of Central Recycling did not do their research before buying this property and lack the capacity to run it properly,” she said. “Their proposal to dump up to 25,000 tons a year of shredded construction debris and asbestos in an unlined facility next to an exposed aquifer has been rejected twice by the planning commission.”

CMS officials say environmental concerns about the facility are exaggerated, that the monofill site has been deeply and unfairly characterized. They also say the site is an economic necessity for their business. Borough staff had recommended approval for the 2014 planning commission submission, the second rejection for a landfill at the site in two years. Commissioners voted to reject an earlier submission in June 2013. Borough officials twice cited the company over concerns about wind-blown trash in the area, and the company has appealed the citations in Alaska courts. Local residents say the company has not even tried to work with neighbors, Nowers said

“Instead of filing lawsuits and appeals and spending money on lawyers, I wish they’d spend that time and energy looking for a suitable site for their operations and take residents up on their offer to help find a purchaser for the property,” she said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.