Don’t let a new landfill turn south Kansas City neighborhoods into a dump | Opinion

A landfill on Kansas City’s southern border would be ruinous to the rural area and nearby communities. The Kansas City Council and Missouri lawmakers should use all means possible to block it.

Developers have not yet submitted a formal proposal to build a landfill on nearly 1,000 acres south of Longview Lake, but rumors have circulated since the fall. Someone is trying to buy up the land, The Star has reported. Sellers have signed nondisclosure agreements. Seventeen lobbyists are roaming the Missouri State Capitol’s halls trying to drum up support. And so on.

It’s not all rumors. A representative of the project testified at a recent legislative hearing, all but confirming that there’s a landfill in the works. The specifics remain a mystery.

State statutes encourage transparency and working with surrounding jurisdictions, but it doesn’t require it until further along in the process. That is a flaw in the law. Openness from the start would best serve all concerned. The current secrecy gives the impression that backers hope to present the landfill as a fait accompli that regulators cannot refuse regardless of public opposition.

The public does know something, though. They know that landfills stink — literally and figuratively. Landfills potentially — some say inevitably — leak and leach pollutants into the local groundwater and watershed. They reduce the value of nearby homes and scare off investors from a community. No one wants to live next to a garbage dump.

The closest neighbors to the site include the Creekmore community and Summit Pointe Elementary School, both of which are just across the street. There are also multiple lakes in the area and a high water table that would be affected by any seepage.

The nearby cities of Raymore, Belton, Grandview and Lee’s Summit have passed resolutions opposing the project. Kansas City should join them on Wednesday.

The City Council will consider a resolution sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas and council members Andrea Bough and Kevin McManus. It states that the city opposes any new landfills or waste transfer stations at this time. It also orders city staff to complete a study of the city’s waste management needs within six months.

Whether the region needs another landfill depends on whom you ask. Some say that the capacity could run out in just a couple of decades. Others say it will last much longer, especially if new technologies such as converting waste into energy extend timelines. There’s also the alternative of shipping waste to remote rural locales instead of a local landfill. That would have financial and environmental costs, but it is an option.

Even if the city does need more landfill capacity soon, it doesn’t need one at the proposed site. The land there is zoned for rural residential development — a classification called R-80 in municipal code, which says the residential zones are “primarily intended to create, maintain and promote a variety of housing opportunities for individual households and to maintain the desired physical character of existing and developing neighborhoods.” There’s room for some other uses, but a landfill hardly fits with the character of any residential neighborhood.

Jefferson City should modernize Missouri laws

State law acknowledges that the effects of a landfill can transcend jurisdictional lines. Statutes allow a neighboring municipality to veto a landfill that serves a big city, but only if it’s within half a mile. Though the landfill is on the very edge of Jackson County, it is just beyond a half mile from Raymore. There, opposition has no legal heft.

Lawmakers should bring Raymore into range. State Rep. Mike Haffner, a Cass County Republican, has sponsored H.B. 909, which would extend the proximity to a full mile. Hundreds of people wrote in support of the bill, and it has received favorable treatment in committee so far.

After the current brouhaha winds down, lawmakers should thoroughly review Missouri’s legislation governing landfills. Testifying on his bill, Haffner acknowledged that the current laws are insufficient. “This is a failure on our part,” he said. “The fact that this hasn’t been updated since the early ‘70s when the technology has changed significantly and the needs have changed significantly because of the growth of municipalities. We’ve got to do a better job of revising these statutes.”

Indeed, a refresh on many laws would be helpful, but especially one that allows a landfill to try to sneak in under the radar to the detriment of so many neighbors.