COLBERT COUNTY-On March 1 the Alabama Department of Environmental Management ordered the troubled Cherokee Industrial Landfill to cease and desist.
The order states the landfill cannot reopen until leachate levels have been reduced in both the landfill cells and storage tanks. ADEM has required the landfill to make sure the waste is covered with an earthen cover as required by ADEM regulations…landfills must cover the waste with at least six inches of compacted soil.
The landfill cannot currently accept any waste from residents or contractors per the ADEM order. The CIW is used by the Tri-Cities Solid Waste Authority, which includes representatives from Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield. It is also used to collect solid waste from Colbert County residents.
According to Colbert County Commission Chairman Tommy Barnes who also chairs the Solid Waste Authority, the county has an agreement to dump waste at the Franklin County Landfill if needed.
Circuit Court Judge Mitch Hays has issued an order appointing Jeff Claunch of Sheffield as the receiver for the trouble CIW. It was noted by Judge Hays that Claunch is an “experienced and skillful manger of waste sites.”
