With just days left in 2022, efforts are underway to close on a proposed sale of the NABORS Landfill in northern Baxter County before the years closes. In addition to the 698-acre site, the proposed sale would apparently include the facility and property on Rossi Road in Mountain Home that once served as the company’s sanitation office.
Bull Shoals Mayor David Nixon serves as the chair of the five-county Ozark Mountain Solid Waste Board. Mayor Nixon says progress to sell the properties is being made bit-by-bit on a daily basis. He says the hope is to have the transaction completed by the end of December.
The Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District includes Baxter, Boone, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties, with Carroll having withdrawn from the group in 2019. Its board is comprised of each county judge and the mayors of all Class I cities within the district’s boundaries.
Nixon says last summer the solid waste board learned an investment group was interested in reopening the landfill.
Documents obtained by KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news identifies the potential buyer as Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS), LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass, who previously served as chair of the solid waste board, says it was a real estate listing for the property on Rossi Road that led to LRS’ interest in the purchase to reopen the landfill.
An unsuccessful court-ordered sale of the commercial buildings and property on Rossi Road was held in mid-2020.
Judge Pendergrass says LRS already has connections to the area and operates five other landfills across the country.
Information from Ozark Mountain Solid Waste Director Steve Kershaw includes “LRS/Orion” among 10 permitted trash haulers in the district.
While the efforts to complete the sale have been underway for several months, Mayor Nixon, Judge Pendergrass and Director Kershaw all pointed to the district’s attorney, John Verkamp of Charleston, for details on the status of the transaction. Repeated attempts to reach Verkamp have been unsuccessful.
A check with Baxter County and Circuit Clerk Canda Reese last week indicates documentation of the sale has not been filed with her office.
Hurdles
The solid waste district officials all noted the complexity of the potential sale, including action required by the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment (E&E), which absorbed the former Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) in 2019. The action would include transfer of any permit(s) necessary to operate the closed landfill.
The officials also point to the legal entanglement of the district.
History
The Nabors landfill was originally permitted in 1979 and was owned by RLH, until it was purchased in 2005. The purchaser was the Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District, renamed the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District in 2011.
The district defaulted on the payment of principal and interest to bondholders in November 2012 and stopped trash collections. The last waste was received at the landfill in November 2012.
Two years later, the district sought bankruptcy protection, with a federal court judge throwing out the case.
After the district defaulted on its debt, Bank of the Ozarks – as trustee of the bondholders – sued the district in Pulaski County Circuit Court, leading to a judgment in 2017 and a controversial annual fee to property owners in the district.
A series of court rulings in 2021 led to partial refunds to property owners in 2022. A new Pulaski County court ruling in mid-2022 halted further refunds.
Advantages, disadvantages of potential sale
Judge Pendergrass says he sees three advantages to the potential sale:
1) The new owner would assume the 30-year liability placed on the landfill, releasing both the state and the board/district. The state is currently covering all monitoring costs of the site, due to the district’s limited revenue stream. He says no inspections have been conducted at the site in two years due to COVID-19.
2) New jobs and economic development for the area. He noted ADEQ had permitted a new cell for trash collections when the site was closed.
3) Savings for those served by the district.
Judge Pendergrass pointed to one disadvantage to the sale:
1) Public outcry. He says while some will point to the potential of water contamination from the landfill and the proximity to the Pigeon Creek arm of Lake Norfork and the City of Mountain Home’s water intake, he noted efforts are underway to amend that location to the main river channel.
Judge Pendergrass also noted that while the NABORS Landfill has captured the public’s attention for a number of years, many are not aware there are approximately seven other closed landfills in Baxter County. Unlike the NABORS site, none of the other landfills are monitored for potential leachate.
Lakeshore Recycling Systems
-Rosemont, Illinois-based LRS is listed among the nation’s leading privately held waste diversion, recycling and portable services providers.
-According to the company’s website, LRS serves customers in nine states, including Arkansas.
-LRS entered the Arkansas market with the November 2021 acquisition of Orion Waste Solutions that serve territories in Harrison and Bethel.
-The company also purchased a recycling operation in Little Rock last year.
-LRS has more than 65 operating facilities, and 2,100 employees.
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