WASILLA -- The Anchorage company with plans to build construction and demolition waste debris fills near Chugiak and Palmer suffered yet another setback last week.
Central Monofill Services originally hoped to construct two so-called "monofills" -- lightly regulated landfills generally for one kind of waste -- to collect shredded material generated by a thriving construction and demolition recycling business at Ship Creek. Both monofills are now on hold.
The Alaska Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a Palmer District Court judge's convictions of the company and a co-owner for three Matanuska-Susitna Borough code violations linked to tires, wood chips and a pile of shredded debris discovered on the Palmer site in 2013 -- as the company applied for a permit to dump waste there.
The company's quest for a permit at Palmer have failed so far. Amid public concern about potential drinking water contamination, the borough Board of Adjustment and Appeals in March upheld a planning commission rejection of Central's conditional-use permit application The commission also voted down Central's first application in 2013.
The company has filed a notice of intent to appeal the March appeals board decision, according to Palmer attorney Bill Ingaldson, who is representing Central Monofill. The notice serves as a placeholder and doesn't guarantee an appeal. Central is weighing the likelihood of success on appeal and also examining other potential uses for the site, though Ingaldson couldn't say what those might be. It's also possible Central could appeal the "disappointing" appeals court decision to the state Supreme Court based on some inconsistencies in the decision, he said.
"It's been a tough battle," Ingaldson said.
Central has said the two sites would allow the company to avoid municipal landfill rates. Central Recycling Services, which shares owners with Central Monofill and operates the Ship Creek recycling facility, last year filed a lawsuit against the municipality over tipping fees at the landfill.
The company earlier this year also asked the state to put on hold a separate Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation permit for the Chugiak site due to concerns over adjacent contamination from an old municipal landfill. The Chugiak monofill is no longer a permitted use under a proposed development plan for the area submitted by landowner Eklutna Inc.