Aluminum recyclers revive landfill plans

MT.PLEASANT — Two aluminum-processing industries have submitted preliminary plans to construct a landfill behind the county airport, a proposal similar to one two years ago that drew the ire of city residents and was voted down by commissioners. The 95.2-acre landfill proposed by Tennessee Aluminum Processors Inc. and Smelter Service Corp. will be discussed at the city’s planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 5.According to plans submitted to the city Dec. 21, the site would be off Hoover Mason Road behind the Maury County Airport. The acreage — 95.2 — is nearly half of what the two companies had proposed in 2007. The landfill would house salt cake, a by-product of recycling aluminum. The proposed site is zoned for agricultural purposes and would have to be rezoned for special impact industrial district or M-3.Carl Martin, the city’s planning and zoning director, said the plans appear to be close to the same ones that were voted down in 2007."If they make the request, we have to at least look it," he said, though he declined to give an opinion on the proposal.Martin said if the proposal was passed by the planning commission, the board of commissioners would have to give final approval. The designs call for 19.5 acres that would serve as a disposal area, while another 19.5 acres could be used inthe future. There would also be two 50,000-gallon tanks used for a collection area. Any aluminum by-product would be separated from the groundwater by a 12-inch thick leachate collection system, a 7-foot clay buffer, two high density polyethylene liners and a clay liner, according to the plans."Consequently, there will be no impact to the groundwater from the waste material or site operations," the proposal states.Calls made to TAP and Smelter Services were not returned Monday.‘LEAVE THIS ALONE’When the landfill was first proposed in 2007, many residents opposed the measure, including the Mt. Pleasant Association Concerned Over Resources and Nature.Concerns arose about possible ammonia releases affecting the health of residents and the town’s water supply. When water combines with the salt cake, it produces ammonia gas. The concern is addressed in the landfill’s proposal, which states the salt cake will be cooled, left in dry conditions and be covered with clay daily to "prevent intrusion of rainwater.""Even with this extremely conservative approach, the ammonia concentrations predicted at locations near the proposed monofill are extremely low," the proposal states.Jennifer Graham, president of ACORN in Mt. Pleasant, said she had not seen the blueprints, but the organization will hold a meeting this week to discuss a possible course of action."We’ve fought this now for years," she said Monday. "We had hoped they (TAP and Smelter) would honor the wishes of the majority of the citizens of Mt. Pleasant, the Planning Commission and the City Commission, as shown by past actions, and leave this alone."Ed Brennan, who previously campaigned for a commission seat and was defeated, said he is worried about the value of his properties in the city declining with the presence of a landfill. He said it would disparage potential homebuyers from coming to the city."I might look to some other place than Mt. Pleasant if there’s a hazardous landfill here," he said. "This is going to be a big black mark for our city."The Environmental Protection Agency does not consider salt cake to be hazerdous waste.‘MILK AND COOKIES’In 2007, commissioners voted 4-1 against the landfill, though two — Maury Colvett Sr. and Chris Frierson — have been elected to the board since then.Messages seeking comment from commissioners were not returned Monday, though some have publicly given their stance in the past.Shortly after being elected to the commission in 2007, Vice Mayor John Davis Jr. said he opposed any landfills being in the city."We’ve got to look at the future of the community for our grandchildren and our grandchildren’s children," he said in a previous interview with a Daily Herald reporter.Mayor Richard Hendrix said he voted against the plans because of the location."It doesn’t matter what was going to be stored there," Hendrix said in 2007. "You can say you’re going to put milk and cookies in there, it’s still going to be a landfill within the city."

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