Monofill permit denied

PALMER — In a split 4-3 vote Monday, the Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission denied a controversial permit application to open a monofill dumpsite in an old gravel pit off the Glenn Highway.

“For 21 days we’re not allowed to really discuss the merits of the case, so I can just reiterate what’s on the public record,” Planning Commission Chair John Klapperich said Thursday afternoon.

The company applying for the permit is Central Monofill Services. The company has said it intends to fill the pit with shredded building materials. CMS is one of a group of companies that recycles building materials. The monofill would be a disposal site for everything it can’t recycle. It would take in asbestos, but it’s not a traditional dump in that it won’t take in household garbage or toxic material — asbestos properly handled is not considered toxic.

Neighbors are upset at the prospect, raising concerns about — according to a borough summary of comments — everything from the level of water in nearby lakes to contamination of drinking water to disrupting migratory bird activity.

But, Klapperich said, the only thing the planning commission does is “decide whether or not the applicant met the legal requirements for a permit and the commission needs to put its reasoning on the record.

“Whenever there’s something quasi-judicial, there’s a vote taken and then there’s mandatory by state law (that) we need to have findings of facts and conclusions of law,” Klapperich said.

That process isn’t finished yet. Monday’s meeting stretched into Tuesday morning after 63 people testified and the commission heard from CMS and debated the application. The commission will reconvene on June 17 to officially state its reasons for denying the permit.

The proposed findings in the resolution provided by borough staff at Monday’s meeting stretched to six pages. A sampling:

• “CMS has not provided adequate mitigation plans for preventing trash and debris from leaving the site.”

• “The proposed monofill is an industrial use and is an incompatible use with the surrounding residential areas as it cannot be completely screened from the surrounding residences to the west, debris from the monofill will blow onto the surrounding residences and roadways, and there is the possibility of contamination of drinking water wells in the area.”

• “Migratory birds, especially waterfowl, are attracted to the ponds already on the site. Material used as daily cover includes material potentially hazardous to birds if ingested.”

The staff report recommends that the permit be denied.

Klapperich, William Haller and Bruce Walden voted in favor of approving the permit application. Commissioners Thomas Adams, Vern Rauchenstein, Brian Endle and Thomas Healy voted in opposition. The only other commissioner contacted for this story, Healy, said — much the same as Klapperich did — that by borough code he couldn’t speak to the reasoning behind his decision.

As for Klapperich, he said this case notwithstanding, the question of what to do with the remnants of demolished buildings in the borough is a tough one. It used to be, he said, that you could toss it in a landfill or put it out behind the barn.

“We as a society have to decide what we’re going to do with it,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.