THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411120202
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CLIFTON FORGE LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
A state senator is trying to get federal funds to pay for cleaning up a polluting landfill in Alleghany County.
State Sen. Malfourd Trumbo, R-Fincastle, said Thursday he is exploring using the Clean Water Act to provide funds for cleaning up the defunct Kim-Stan landfill near Selma. A court order closed the landfill in 1990 for environmental violations. Cleaning it up could cost more than $10 million.
Kim-Stan's owners were forced into bankruptcy soon after the landfill closed. Efforts in the past two years to get the General Assembly to approve state taxes to fund the cleanup have failed.
If the state proves that Kim-Stan is in a watershed area that affects the Chesapeake Bay, the Clean Water Act can be tapped for funding.
Contaminated runoff leaks from the landfill daily and makes its way into the Jackson River, which is a tributary of the James River. The James River runs into the Chesapeake Bay.
``The Environmental Protection Agency has encouraged the state to do our water-quality projects on a watershed basis,'' said Charlie Wade, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. ``What we're looking at with Kim-Stan is a little different or unique, but it might work.''
To get the federal funds for Kim-Stan, the state will have to refer to the section of the Clean Water Act that covers sediment pollution, nutrients and toxins, Wade said. by CNB