Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 18, 1992 TAG: 9203180145
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In a ruling awaited since January, U.S. District Judge James Michael blocked the state's effort to extract money from Wharton. An estimated $5.5 million is being sought by the state to cap the Alleghany County landfill and monitor its pollution for decades.
The judge scolded the state for asking Wharton, a former Wise County strip miner now living in Florida, to "dig into his pocket and pay for cleanup costs." The written opinion had been expected since the judge's oral ruling at a Jan. 3 hearing.
Michael also rejected the state's motion to direct a federal bankruptcy trustee to clear the way for a state suit against Wharton.
Kim-Stan owes millions of dollars to dozens of creditors. Last year, Wharton agreed to pay them $100,000 if the bankruptcy trustee would cease pressing his personal liability for the debts.
Under state law, Kim-Stan was supposed to fund an escrow account for the multimillion-dollar closure of the site, but the company was declared bankrupt and Wharton has said it has no money at all.
He has testified repeatedly that a Michigan partner handled Kim-Stan's business and disappeared with company records early in 1990. The state police began an investigation of Kim-Stan that year, but no charges ever were filed.
From 1988 to 1990, the private landfill took thousands of truckloads of garbage from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The state Department of Waste Management closed the landfill in May 1990 after state agencies documented that its owners had violated environmental laws and polluted streams and the Jackson River.
A spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office could not be reached Tuesday to see if the state might appeal the decision.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.