Questions remain after dirt pit report

FAYETTEVILLE — Questions about a dirt mining operation from some Washington County officials went unanswered Thursday night when discussion was curtailed after a report by County Judge Joseph Wood.

Wood gave the Quorum Court a report on the operation, including a brief history of an ordinance authorizing the operation in 2016 and a pair of contracts for the operation all of which, Wood said, are on file and public record in the County Clerks Office.

Wood also acknowledged the county has done work without obtaining a permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality and said the county has hired Garver Engineering to develop plans to remedy problems identified by the ADEQ in an inspection of the site. Wood said those remediation plans aren’t yet complete.

The ADEQ report noted five violations. The detention pond is in need of maintenance. A culvert allows stormwater to bypass the pond, and runoff from material stockpiled isn’t fully routed to the pond, allowing it to enter a nearby stream. Construction of the dam downstream of the facility’s outfall is restricting flow of the stream. There is elevated turbidity and evidence of grading within the stream including red clay sediment downstream of the site and the dam. The dam “was not approved by ADEQ” and isn’t authorized by the current permit.

Wood said the county is working to meet state requirements, but he said Washington County may face fines or other penalties from ADEQ as the process is completed.

The county has spent more than $ 300,000 in construction and operating costs on the project since 2017, Wood said. The operation has provided dirt for road construction used by the county, pointing to the Wallin Mountain Road project. In that project, he said, the dirt hauled from the Winslow dirt pit cost the county about $24,000 and buying from another source could have cost up to $221,000.

Wood said there is “no credible evidence” any employee has benefited from the project and no employee has been fired “with regard to the dirt pit.” Justices of the peace said at earlier meetings they have heard from employees on both of those issues.

When Wood completed his report Eva Madison, justice of the Peace for District 9 in Fayetteville, tried to open a discussion on the dirt pit operation but was cut off.

Madison said she has questions about the operation she wants to ask and have answered in public.

“Your information tonight did nothing to answer those questions,” Madison said.

Lisa Ecke, justice of the peace for District 6, which includes southeastern Springdale and northeastern Fayetteville, raised a point of order saying the dirt pit operation wasn’t on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting and there was a motion and second on another item pending and the discussion of the dirt pit ended.

The Quorum Court approved an ordinance Thursday establishing a $4.5 million reserve fund as part of the 2021 budget process.

The Road Department budget for next year hasn’t yet been approved. The justices of the peace delayed action on the Road Department budget at the Nov. 11 meeting when the dirt pit operation came up for discussion. Ann Harbison, justice of the peace for District 14, which includes much of southern Washington County, is chairwoman of the Finance & Budget Committee. Harbison said Thursday there’s only one budget meeting scheduled in December and the county is required to approve the budget by the end of the year.

The justices of the peace also discussed a $1.2 million grant from the federal Homeland Security for the Department of Emergency Management but failed to approve the measure. Several justices of the peace and some members of the public who spoke said they would like to have more information on the details of the grant and some discussion of possible alternative uses for the money. The possibility of using the money to offset some of the cost of the planned emergency communications system was among the prospects raised during the discussion.