Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 23, 1990 TAG: 9007230306
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A/6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A lot of people would like to know, including state authorities and residents of Alleghany County who fought the landfill until it was closed down in May. Kim-Stan President Jerry Wharton says he'd like to know too; he claims an out-of-state partner took off with the company's money and books.
This past week, Attorney General Mary Sue Terry ordered the state police to investigate possible criminal conduct by Kim-Stan officials. Evidently it will take such scrutiny to answer the many questions remaining about the landfill's operation.
Kim-Stan's operators have long demonstrated a certain elusiveness.
At first, they maintained they weren't creating any kind of health hazard. Pressed by authorities, they said yes, they would meet health, sanitation and environmental requirements; just look at all they were doing. After the state said they weren't doing enough, the operators said no, they couldn't comply with the state's standards because they didn't have any money.
For the same reason, Kim-Stan officials said, they couldn't pay state fines or compensate the commonwealth for the $74,000 it had spent to cover acres of foul garbage and haul away 400,000 gallons of polluted seepage from the closed landfill.
The state wanted Kim-Stan fined another $25,000 a day for its violations, but Alleghany Circuit Court Judge Duncan M. Byrd Jr. said he couldn't do that until he knew for sure the company still had money.
Others interested in knowing that are three out-of-state companies claiming $746,000 in unpaid debts. They have filed for relief from Kim-Stan under federal bankruptcy laws. Kim-Stan's operators have long demonstrated a certain elusiveness.
Jerry Wharton says he's $250,000 in debt himself. He has accused a partner, William Stover of Troy, Mich., of leaving Kim-Stan with debts of $1.8 million and no money to clean up environmental damage.
One thing's certain: Over a period of several months, many thousands of trucks rolled in and deposited their loads in a landfill that was run in blatant violation of state laws and regulations.
Another thing that seems certain is that authorities were slow to react to citizens' complaints and crack down on violations. When an operation of this sort is doing a booming business and the operators are obviously cutting corners, higher-ups in law enforcement should get wary a whole lot sooner than they did.
Whatever it takes, the Kim-Stan landfill site will have to be cleaned up. It would just be nice if somebody other than Virginia's taxpayers were made to pay.
by CNB