The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality issued a report based on its investigation of the stump dump fire off Trafalgar Road -- even though the department may not be finished.
The report, prepared by ADEQ inspector Chris Krou, details an investigation into the site and covers some of its findings.
The property belongs to Brown's Tree Service, a local firm that purchased the former stump dump earlier this year. Cletus Wilkins, the owner of the company, previously stated the land was bought for equipment storage because there are no storage facilities in the area that will take heavy diesel trucks.
According to the report, a complaint was received Aug. 2 and ADEQ personnel visited the site Aug. 8. A multimedia examination of the site was performed Aug. 15, in which photos were taken to record conditions and observations.
The former stump dump fits the definition of a disposal site and primarily houses what regulations define as Class 4 solid waste, or solid waste that is nonhazardous, bulky, inert and/or non-putrescible.
Brown's Tree Service does not possess a permit for a disposal site, according to the report, and ADEQ personnel observed newly deposited materials near where smoke was rising, which is in violation of Arkansas statute 8-6-205(a)(2), which forbids disposal of solid waste anywhere but a permitted dump site.
Moreover, according to the report, the rising smoke and/or its contents create a public nuisance and possibly a public health hazard because of unknown materials burning among the waste, which is also generating air pollution.
According to the report, this is also in violation of state law, "which states it shall be illegal for any person to sort, collect, transport, process or dispose of solid waste contrary to the rules ... or in such a manner or place as to create or be likely to create a public nuisance or public health hazard or ... to cause water or air pollution."
Donnally Davis, a spokesman for ADEQ, said that based on these determinations, the department has advised Brown's Tree Service to discontinue all dump and disposal operations at the site and to take steps to prevent public access for safety reasons.
The department is not currently taking any legal action against Brown's Tree Service, she said, but that may change.
Davis said that records also indicate the POA -- which previously operated the dump site -- did not have a permit.
General News on 09/12/2018