State: Order coming against Stuff Recycling

Published 9:43 am Thursday, April 11, 2019

An agreed order against Stuff Recycling’s violations should be finalized within a matter of days, according to state officials.

Representatives from the Kentucky Division of Waste Management spoke to the Clark County Fiscal Court Wednesday they were working with attorneys for Stuff Recycling on an agreed order to resolve several violations issued by the state against the recycling business last year.

“At this point, we’ve gone through the violations and are working on an agreed order,” Division of Solid Waste Director John Maybrier said. The terms in that order will be legally binding, once it is finalized and approved.

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A violation dated June 12, 2018, listed eight violations including not notifying the state’s environmental response line about a contaminant release, not complying with the terms of a permit, runoff from the site having a sheen, a release of petroleum from something other than a storage tank and other concerns.

Maybrier said soil and water samples were taken from the site as part of the inspection process by officials from the Division of Solid Waste as well as the Division of Water. There was an elevated level of zinc but nothing of “significantly elevated levels,” he said.

“It did not show anything of significant levels of concern,” he said. The testing also found no gasoline or other volatile substances in the soil at Stuff.

Michael Kroeger, the director of enforcement for the Division of Waste Management, said the order will be a plan of steps to bring Stuff back into compliance with state standards. The required steps, he said, should be fairly quick fixes.

The negotiations about the agreed order, he said, are confidential and they did not discuss the details of the violations. The agreed order, once finalized, will be a public document, he said.

Stuff Recycling was the scene of a major fire which burned for three days beginning June 9, 2018. It started around a pile of miscellaneous scrap about 200 feet long, 60 feet wide and 30 feet tall. Firefighters and officials from more than 30 agencies spent the better part of three days fighting the fire.

In other action, the fiscal court:

— heard a presentation from Stephen Berry about the Winchester-Clark County Active Transportation Plan.

— approved a six-year road plan for the Clark County Road Department.

— approved a lease-to-purchase agreement for a new dump truck for the county road department.

— scheduled a budget workshop meeting for 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 17.

About Fred Petke

Fred Petke is a reporter for The Winchester Sun, the Jessamine Journal and the State Journal. His beats include cops, courts, fire, public records, city and county government and other news. To contact Fred, email fred.petke@bluegrassnewsmedia.com or call 859-759-0051.

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