GALENA, Kan. —
Jim Beachner has opened Cherokee Regional Landfill, a construction and demolition landfill north of Galena and northeast of Crestline, to handle debris from the Joplin, Mo., tornado.
Some in Cherokee County are upset about it.
The landfill is the result of a permit transfer from an existing C&D landfill that was approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. No one at KDHE could be reached to comment about the permit transfer.
Beachner is president of the landfill and of JRB Industries, a demolition contractor in Parsons.
Members of the Beachner family, which also owns Beachner Construction Co., of St. Paul, approached the Cherokee County Commission two weeks after the tornado. They sought the commission’s approval to open a new C&D landfill at Riverton to handle tornado debris. They didn’t receive it. The owner of an existing C&D landfill north of Columbus objected.
Jim Beachner said that though they all are in the same family, his businesses have no connection with Beachner Construction Co.
The permit transfer required approval of the KDHE but not the County Commission.
Beachner said the landfill will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, until the debris is removed. He said the landfill is meant to help property owners in Joplin.
Carl Hayes, who has the title of environmentalist with the Cherokee County Health Department, isn’t happy about the development. He also is chairman of the Cherokee County Solid Waste Committee.
He said the landfill permit transfer proposal wasn’t brought before his committee, which he said is among the reasons the committee exists.
“It’s not for community service,” Hayes said. “It’s all about the money.”
He said property owners in the area also weren’t contacted.
“It kind of sticks in my craw,” Hayes said. “It’s a total disregard of public opinion. ... It goes back to pride for your county.”
Hayes said he doesn’t see the need for another construction and demolition landfill.
Beachner attributed Hayes’ opposition to his close relationship with the existing landfill operators.
County Commissioner Pat Collins, in whose district the new landfill is located, said he has heard from many constituents who are opposed to it. He said they are angry at him for not being able to prevent the permit transfer.
He said the Beachners are responsible business people who have built most of the new bridges in Cherokee County.
The KDHE permit allows the landfill to operate within its current boundaries, but Collins said any expansion would require approval by the County Commission. Without revealing his position, Collins said it doesn’t matter, because the other two commissioners are opposed to any expansion.
Calls to County Commissioners Richard Hilderbrand and Jack Garner confirmed that. Hilderbrand said the landfills at Galena, north of Columbus and near Baxter Springs have more than enough capacity to handle all the Joplin tornado debris.
Sue Drennan, whose house is a quarter-mile west of the landfill, said she has been in constant contact with KDHE officials about it.
“I’m trying to find any avenue I can to make sure it doesn’t go through,” Drennan said.
She said she doesn’t have anything personal against Beachner; it’s simply a matter of property rights.
“This is not necessary,” Drennan said. “It’s just an annoyance. They’re going to come in here, make their profit, then they’re going to leave.”
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