A Missouri bill would give the state power to clean up abandoned landfills while dissolving solid waste districts and shifting how recycling grants are handled.<\/p>\n
ST. LOUIS \u2014 A bill moving through the Missouri legislature would give the state new authority to clean up abandoned landfills, but it would also dissolve Missouri\u2019s solid waste management districts \u2014 a proposal that has drawn sharp criticism from environmental groups and district leaders who say it could disrupt recycling programs and cost jobs.<\/p>\n
The legislation, Senate Bill 1586, is sponsored by State Sen. Ben Brown and aims to address Missouri\u2019s estimated 29 abandoned landfill sites, many of which lack a legally responsible owner.<\/p>\n
Brown said the problem has gone largely unnoticed for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has kind of been one of Missouri\u2019s best kept dirty little secrets \u2014 that we have 29 of these throughout the state,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
\nExpanding DNR\u2019s authority <\/p>\n
Brown said current law ties enforcement and cleanup authority to landfill owners \u2014 a problem when no owner exists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat wasn\u2019t anticipated is the situation we have now, where we have nearly 30 sites that do not have an owner,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWith the absence of the owner, DNR has no authority or ability to go in and actually do anything to remediate the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill would give the Missouri Department of Natural Resources the authority to \u201cassess, investigate, test, remediate and manage abandoned solid waste disposal areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFunding shift at the center of controversy <\/p>\n
To help pay for that work, the bill would eliminate Missouri\u2019s 20 solid waste management districts and shift administration of landfill tipping fees and grants directly to DNR.<\/p>\n
Brown said solid waste districts currently receive about 61% of landfill tipping fees, while DNR receives the remaining 39%.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to formulate the bill in a way where it would preserve that funding, but eliminate the often over 50% overhead costs that these solid waste districts are utilizing,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
Brown argued that eliminating district overhead could free up $4 to $5 million annually, allowing the state to both preserve environmental grants and begin addressing abandoned landfills.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt no point in time did this bill ever eliminate those grants,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI even went further and added language that ensures that funding\u2019s preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the revised bill locks in a minimum level of grant funding based on the average amount awarded by solid waste districts over the previous three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat amount becomes the floor,\u201d Brown said. \u201cSo not only does it not eliminate those grants and programs \u2014 if anything, it provides more and guarantees that you can\u2019t receive anything less than what you\u2019ve had in previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhat solid waste districts do <\/p>\n
Eric Larson, executive director of the solid waste management district serving St. Louis city, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Jefferson County, said districts provide critical support to nonprofits and local governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonprofits come to us and we help guide them, get them into programs and help support them,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n
He said the district has funded household hazardous waste programs and expanded recycling access across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Jefferson County specifically, it actually opened up a recycling spot that had never been there,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n
Over the past 33 years, Larson said his district has awarded more than 1,500 grants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a huge impact,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody knows who we are and they know what we\u2019re able to do and help solve issue-wise for diversion in our district.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nConcerns about eliminating districts <\/p>\n
Larson said dissolving the districts would cause \u201ca lot of heartburn and a lot of lost opportunities,\u201d especially for nonprofits that rely on annual grants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we weren\u2019t able to help them annually, they would be severely at a loss for revenue,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n
He also questioned whether DNR could realistically manage grant oversight statewide.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have about 20 districts in the state with 20 professionals such as myself, and we know what matters in our local areas,\u201d Larson said. \u201cUnfortunately, Jefferson City\u2019s not going to know what\u2019s an impact and what\u2019s going to work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Larson emphasized that solid waste districts were never created to clean up landfills.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were created in 1993 by a Senate bill that said we want to divert stuff going into the landfill,\u201d he said. \u201cOur 33 years of existence have removed tons and tons and tons from the landfills.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCleanup costs remain a major question <\/p>\n
Larson said landfill remediation costs could dwarf available funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWestlake, for example \u2014 that\u2019s upwards of $400 million for one landfill remedial,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s 29 of these.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that cleanup requires extensive testing and long-term monitoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s in that landfill,\u201d Larson said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a guessing game until you get in there, and then years after you\u2019re still monitoring it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nEnvironmental nonprofits warn of ripple effects <\/p>\n
Jessica Watson, executive director of Earth Day 365, said her organization receives funding from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District to support composting and recycling at large events and to run its Green Dining Alliance program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District provides funding for us to implement programs that keep waste out of the landfill,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
She said the funding supports staffing and sustainability work at more than 40 events each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat program alone keeps more than 13 million pounds out of the landfill every year,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
Watson called the grants a significant portion of the organization\u2019s funding and questioned the need for change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the current program is working extremely well,\u201d she said. \u201cIf the system isn\u2019t broken, why try to fix it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She also warned of economic consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would have a huge economic impact to change the system,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
\nBrown pushes back on job loss concerns <\/p>\n
Brown said eliminating districts does not mean eliminating environmental work \u2014 or workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to prevent the city or county from hiring that same person on,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI\u2019d like to see those people continue on \u2014 the people that are doing good work.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said grants could go directly to municipalities, which could then hire staff without an additional layer of administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more layers of government you have, the more layers of bureaucracy you have to go through,\u201d Brown said. \u201cUsually you lose something every step along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhat happens next <\/p>\n
Brown said the Senate version of the bill will have a committee hearing next week and that additional changes are still possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make absolutely sure that we get this right and that it doesn\u2019t have any unintended consequences,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
For now, the proposal has sparked a growing debate over how Missouri should finally address abandoned landfills \u2014 and whether eliminating the local system that funds recycling and waste reduction is the right way to do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Missouri bill would give the state power to clean up abandoned landfills while dissolving solid waste districts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-466860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}