Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
DATELINE: BRISTOL LENGTH: Medium
Boucher announced at a news conference Monday morning that he would introduce a bill giving local governments the power to keep municipal solid waste and sludge from other states out of their communities.
Communities cannot do so now, as was shown when the private Kim-Stan landfill began taking out-of-state waste in Alleghany County in the late 1980s. The courts finally closed the landfill, but its owners already were bankrupt and escaped any punishment. Residents around the landfill continue to deal with its leakage of unhealthful wastes.
``Under federal law, no state may discriminate against the commerce of another state. Garbage is defined as commerce,'' Boucher explained. ``My legislation will alter federal law so as to give county boards of supervisors and city councils the final say in determining whether or not garbage imported from out of state may be deposited in local landfills.''
Now, Boucher said, if a locality has no zoning, a developer merely has to apply for a permit to build a landfill. When that happens, a local government has no recourse.
Boucher recalled that Kim-Stan imported more than 100 tractor-trailer loads of garbage a day from New Jersey until the landfill finally was closed. ``Dozens of other states have found themselves powerless to deal with similar situations,'' he said.
Boucher said his bill will be the subject of a legislative hearing Friday,``and I anticipate favorable action by the subcommittee to which it has been referred by the end of this month.''
Boucher introduced a similar bill last year. It was unanimously approved in the House of Representatives but died for lack of action in the Senate.
by CNB