Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
The bill, introduced by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, would give local governments the power to approve or turn down the importation of out-of-state garbage to local landfills or incinerators.
Known as the State and Local Government Interstate Waste bill, the measure now goes to the Senate. It is expected to survive the Republican impasse that last week killed for this year a Boucher-championed bill to reform the country's telecommunications laws.
The waste bill "will change the federal law that gives landfill operators the right to import garbage from out of state over the objection of local communities," Boucher said. "This legislation puts the final decision-making authority where it belongs - in the hands of local governments."
The measure would not ban the interstate commerce in garbage, he said.
"Instead, it would provide the appropriate balance by assuring that waste only goes where it is wanted," Boucher said.
The bill is designed to help rural communities, including those of Appalachia, that often lack zoning laws that otherwise would control the development of private landfills.
The legislation grew out of problems surrounding the Kim-Stan landfill near Clifton Forge. That dump accepted tons of out-of-state refuse in the late 1980s. The state finally shut it down in May 1990.
The poorly designed and operated landfill still poses a pollution problem, one that neither the state nor county wants to pay to resolve. Kim-Stan Inc. itself is bankrupt.
by CNB