environmentailist suing mp alum smelting plant, page-2

And this was 8 months earlier....

http://www.mtpleasantrecord.com/nuke/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=14

Aluminum smelters rebuffed on salt cake landfill in Tenn.

By Paul Schaffer Published: Jan 6 2010 4:37PM

Two aluminum recycling smelters in Mount Pleasant, Tenn., have failed to convince the city's Planning Commission to rezone a 90-acre parcel for disposal of salt cake and baghouse material.

The 6-to-2 vote against a joint application by Tennessee Aluminum Processors Inc. and Smelter Service Corp. is expected to be ratified at the City Commission meeting Jan. 19, although it could be reversed.

Clark Spoden, attorney for the smelters, said local disposal would cut costs and allow for the possibility of salt cake recycling as technology develops. "The goal of the rezoning is to improve their competitive position in the secondary aluminum recycling industry," he told AMM, noting that the companies will continue to have access to the state-approved disposal facilities they now use.

The city lists Tennessee Aluminum Processors as the city's largest employer, with Smelter Service tied for third. "If the local landfill is approved by the City Commission, the companies will explore expansion of their operations in Mount Pleasant," Spoden said.

An earlier landfill for smelter waste existed nearby but shut down in the mid-1990s, a county staffer said.

A 2007 proposal for a Mount Pleasant salt cake landfill was rejected by the city. The smelters discussed
two possible locations under county jurisdiction in 2008 and the Maury County (Tenn.) Board of Zoning
Appeals gave its approval to one of those properties, but the smelters backed off.

Salt cake isn't considered hazardous but needs to stay dry when discarded to avoid odors. The smelters' plans included a 12-inch-thick collection system for fluids, a seven-foot clay buffer and liner, and layers
of high-density polyethylene and geosynthetic clay.