State asks EPA to take over Moody fire
On Wednesday, Governor Kay Ivey issued a limited state of emergency to give local officials in St. Clair County all possible legal authority for use in dealing with the ongoing fire at a Moody landfill that has been burning since November. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) had been tasked with handling the situation, but after the fire has failed to burn itself out, the state will give up operational control to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ADEM will share details with the EPA on this lawfully permitted landfill that was supposed to have taken just limbs and other yard waste. Whatever was buried there on the site has been burning with an intensity that is little diminished in over eight weeks of burning. “By authorizing the EPA to respond to this fire, we are ensuring it will be addressed in the fastest and safest way possible,” Ivey said in a statement. “It is imperative that this situation be solved and solved right for the sake of the folks in Moody and all people affected by this fire. I am pleased at this next step, and to ensure we are doing everything possible from the state level, I am also issuing a limited state of emergency for St. Clair County to give local officials another layer of support as they deal with this fire.” At ADEM’s request, the EPA will lead the effort to put out the underground fire at the permitted landfill at the intersection of Blackjack Road and Annie Lee Road in Moody in St. Clair County. Residents of the area stretching out to include Trussville and Leeds have complained about the smoke and odors emanating from the inferno. ADEM has been collaborating with the EPA, the St. Clair County Commission, and other local and state authorities about the appropriate course of action to take to extinguish the fire. ADEM had been hoping the fire would burn itself out – that has not happened. The EPA will determine the most appropriate method to extinguish the fire, hire a contractor from its list of qualified vendors to perform the work, and oversee the process. “Neither ADEM nor the county has the experience or expertise to put out a fire of this nature,” ADEM Director Lance LeFleur said. “The EPA utilizes contractors with experience and knowledge to do this type of work. ADEM and state and local officials have concluded the most effective and safe way to extinguish the fire is for the EPA to lead the effort, and we have entered into an arrangement with the EPA to make that happen.” ADEM has no staff or vendors it works with that can handle this type of fire. “We stand ready to assist the EPA in whatever manner we can,” said County Commission President Stan Batemon said. “The most important thing is putting the fire out as fast as possible and bringing relief to residents in communities being affected by the smoke. The county is limited in what it can do. The EPA is clearly in the best position with its know-how and resources to handle the fire. We believe this is a major step forward in identifying the best solution and taking action.” At ADEM’s request, the EPA has performed air testing at and the near the site. ADEM is also doing water testing in nearby streams to determine possible impacts from runoff from the fire site. It is not known at this point how long it will take to put out the fire or who ultimately will be responsible for paying the EPA’s costs. The EPA is expected to seek recovery costs from the private operator of the site. Alabama Today has been on-site on several occasions, and the odor is intense. There is rampant speculation among people in the Moody community that there is something burning inside that man-made hill other than the limbs and vegetative material that the landfill was exclusively permitted for. Some residents have suggested that old tires could be among the materials burning in that extremely hot fire. Firefighters have the fire contained on the site, but no one knows how long the blaze will continue to burn or what could happen if efforts to put out the fire instead open more of the burning material to oxygen. Once the fire is out, ADEM will take appropriate enforcement actions against the operator. There is a potential for penalties for impacts on air quality and open burning violations. The long-term health impacts of breathing in the smoke and fumes for these many weeks are unknown. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com
Rep. Steve Clouse disputes Lance LeFleur allegations with facts
Tuesday night, Alabama Today got a call from state Rep. Steve Clouse in response to our post “Ethics questions abound, who will investigate.” In that post we highlighted a letter purportedly written by Alabama Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) Director Lance LeFleur that accused Clouse of potential ethics violations for pursuing language in the budget bill to exempt the Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund (UST) from transfers to the general fund. Clearly perplexed by the resurrection of allegations that he had a personal conflict made by LeFleur called to set the record straight. He confirmed that LeFleur brought his allegations about his alleged conflict in the language to to Sen. Arthur Orr during the budget process and that Orr spoke to him about them directly at that time. According to Clouse he told Orr that his family got out of the Amoco oil business 27 years ago. More recently Clouse and his father were brokers for ethanol and transformer oil but that business was shut down several years ago. A car business Clouse owned closed over a year ago. He says he is now a full-time legislator (though admittedly he was babysitting his toddler granddaughter yesterday, which is a job in itself). Clouse pointed out that the broker business was not impacted by the UST Trust Fund. He stated that he didn’t own any tanks, equipment and work was done over the phone. It was important Clouse noted to point out when the budget left the house there were zero transfers from the ADEM budget insisting that the senate was responsible for the $1.2 million funds transfers. Insisting the language he added wasn’t even necessary he said he did so to ensure a piece of mind to those paying into the fund and to save ADEM a potential lawsuit if they attempted to use UST Trust Fund monies in any way other than their designated use. Clouse told Alabama Today that LeFlaur said he’s “okay with his budget being zero as long as there were not transfers.” When asked about the fee increases now being requested due to the fact ADEM was zeroed out with LeFlaur’s blessing he noted that legislators “knew there was a possibility of raises.” He was unaware of the previous across the board fee increases which included 19 percent in 2011 and 50 percent in 2013 and did not know that a 20 percent fee increase on top of the other two was currently being proposed. He did not want to speak directly to them because he was not fully informed on all of the specifics but we will follow up with him as he has time to research the matter more. In addition to the call by Clouse, Alabama Today received numerous calls and messages on his behalf. One from a influential lobbyist and friend said, “I’m 100 percent sure he wouldn’t do anything like that for personal gain.” Another caller stated that Clouse, “is one of the nicest guys in Montgomery, salt of the earth. These attacks are baseless.” Speaker Mike Hubbard‘s office told Alabama Today, “Speaker Hubbard has every confidence in Chairman Clouse.” Clouse told Alabama Today that he is planning on meeting with LeFleur this Thursday, November 5th. We will report back and continue to cover this story as more develops. The next installment will be more about the fee increases and budget of ADEM.
