Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Cotton to describe stump dump fire to EPA
BELLA VISTA — U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, will talk with the interim director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency about the underground fire on Trafalgar Road as the state says it needs federal money to battle the problem.
Cotton toured the former stump dump site for about 30 minutes Friday afternoon. Pockets of smoke billowed from the 5-acre plot and from small holes as Kevin White led Cotton and a small contingent around the outer edge of the site. White is the associate director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Land Resources.
Cotton said it was critical for him to see the site in person before he speaks with Andrew Wheeler, EPA’s interim director, next week.
“It is important that I give him a firsthand account,” said Cotton, who said he would also tell Wheeler about the prep work completed at the site and what will come next. Cotton said his main concerns after seeing the site were public health, costs associated with cleanup and putting out the fire and accountability.
Federal assistance is necessary because cost estimates to extinguish the fire and clean up the site exceed the $7.9 million that the state has available in its response fund, Donnally Davis with the ADEQ said in an email.
“This is what we have an EPA for,” said state Sen. Jim Hendren of Gravette, who also was at the site Friday. He said having Cotton visit Bella Vista could expedite federal help.
The cost of the work could be between $21 million and $39 million, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said. Trench work done at the site late last month stopped the fire from spreading to adjacent property, saving an estimated $3.5 million to $7.5 million, Davis said.
“We could use some financial help,” White told Cotton as they walked the rocky, muddy terrain.
The EPA might not step in right away with a decision because the cost estimate is still in flux, Cotton said.
Prep work at the site is ongoing. The Arkansas Forestry Commission had to postpone back burning inside the fire break this week because of rain. Back burning will clear brush and other debris to prevent any potential spread of the fire above ground, according an Environmental Quality news release sent Wednesday.
An access road to move equipment also will be built, which could take about a month to complete, Davis said.
Environmental Works, a Missouri-based company with an office in Springdale, dug a trench Jan. 21-25 along the south perimeter of the site ranging from 22 feet to 48 feet deep. The trench was used to access the waste and determine the fire’s location, according to ADEQ. The waste included car parts, tires, scrap metal, concrete, plastic pipes and rubber, Davis said.
White told Cotton a vehicle transmission, cross ties and remnants of construction debris also were found.
EnSafe, a Memphis, Tenn. based company hired by the state, collected surface water samples at the northern perimeter of the site Jan. 23. The Arkansas Department of Health’s evaluation of results showed no apparent public health hazard, according to the Wednesday ADEQ news release.
The state is reviewing EnSafe’s proposal to put out the fire, Davis said. The company gave seven options including excavating the site, according to its draft plan. ADEQ has been exploring more cost-effective alternatives, Davis said.
The EPA started three days of air quality testing Thursday, according to ADEQ. The EPA has one monitor on-site and five air monitors within a quarter mile of the site, Davis said. The results will help determine baseline air-quality data.
The EPA’s sampling will look at more than 60 compounds, Davis said.
The agency also will do particulate matter monitoring at the off-site locations, Davis said. Particulate matter monitoring measures the amount of solid and liquid droplets found in the air such as ash, dust and smoke. The findings provide a snapshot of air quality and how it might affect health, according to the Health Department.
ADEQ is also monitoring the air at two locations near the fire. An unhealthy reading in December prompted the state to caution everyone within a half-mile radius of the 8000 block of Trafalgar Road to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
State Sen. Bart Hester of Cave Springs joined the tour Friday. He said it was important for residents near the stump dump to know state and federal agencies are doing all they can for them.
“The neighbors didn’t cause this problem, but they are the ones who have to deal with it,” he said. “It’s unfair to those property owners who can’t sell and to those people who are sick and getting sicker.”
Firefighters were dispatched to the area on Trafalgar Road on July 29, where they spotted smoke and what appeared to be the remains of a brush fire, said Steve Sims, Bella Vista fire chief. Fire Department personnel have said the fire may be burning more than 50 or 60 feet underground.
Tom Judson, the Bella Vista Property Owners Association’s chief operating officer, has said the association operated the dump on leased land from December 2003 to 2016, when it was covered with soil.
Nobody monitored the site the last few years it was open, but staff members would remove trash when possible, Judson has said.
The operation was closed Dec. 31, 2016, according to Bella Vista’s website. The property is owned by Brown’s Tree Care.
Jim Parsons, a Bella Vista resident, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to force a company, a former property owner and the Property Owners Association to pay the cost of extinguishing and cleaning up the fire.
The lawsuit claims there was negligent oversight of the stump dump, which was operated without a permit and was used as a trash dump.
Another lawsuit was filed in November related to the fire.
Curtis and Tiffany Macomber, who live near the dump site, sued Brown’s Tree Care and John Does 1-3 in connection with the fire.
It claims continued smoke from the site has created a hazardous situation for the Macombers and their children. Brown’s currently owns the site.