Home Care In Duck River, TN

MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Maury County neighbors celebrate as a bill to protect Duck River from proposed landfill passes through legislature.

House lawmakers passed the bill from Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, and Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Howenwald, that designates part of the Duck River as a Class II scenic river.

This designation restricts any type of industrial development from happening within two miles of the river.

Neighbors across Maury County made their concerns known as early as last year after noticing development on the old Monsanto Chemical Company property.

That’s when they discovered that Trinity Business Group had purchased the property with plans of building a 300-plus acre landfill within 1,000 feet of the Duck River. The landfill would accept waste from at least 30 counties in Middle Tennessee.

Trinity President Sidney Brian told lawmakers in committee that this bill would effectively “kill” this landfill which he says is a much-needed resource.

Columbia native Gale Moore says this was never about targeting a landfill, because she understands that there could come a time when a landfill is necessary.

Anywhere near the river, however, she says should be off-limits.

“We realize that is a huge need and I think as a county, we’re going to try to figure out how to meet that need without putting it on the river,” Moore said.

Walker Hoye grew up near the Duck River and remembers stories of when pollution from the Monsanto location contaminated the waterway.

He says it’s taken years to reach this point where at least 250,000 people now rely on the river as their source of drinking water.

“I’ve got a baby daughter. She will be drinking from the Duck River. This is our only reservoir of water. My friends in Spring Hill and Mt. Pleasant, we all depend on this river for clean, healthy, sanitary water,” Hoye said.

Lawmakers were at odds over whether this bill would infringe on property owners’ rights to operate on their land with the proper permits.

Brian told lawmakers that he got support from county elected officials, but failed to name specific lawmakers.

Trinity attorneys have threatened to take legal action if this bill is signed into law.

They told lawmakers that this bill was used to “weaponize the Duck River” against Brian and his property.

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The Duck River is considered one of the most biodiverse rivers on the continent, thanks to its variety of mussel and fish species.

Tennesseans throw away more than 2,000 pounds of trash, on average, every year, and the dumping grounds for this waste are shrinking.

Some companies are trying to make a profit with new facilities.

This is happening in Maury County, a rural community about an hour south of Nashville, where a company has proposed a landfill nearly double the size of Middle Tennessee’s largest pit.

But this proposed landfill site once housed an infamous chemical corporation: for half a century, Monsanto mined phosphates there to make fertilizers and chemical weapons. It also sits near the Duck River.

“This isn’t just about a landfill,” said Scott Banbury, of the Sierra Club in Tennessee.

Local and state government pass new Duck River protections

Last June, Trinity Business Group, a Louisiana-based company, proposed a 1,300-acre waste complex, which would include two landfills – for both household waste and construction debris — a recycling facility, metal salvage, tire shredding, a solar farm and other waste operations.

Trinity proposed the facility by becoming the owner of an old, six-acre landfill and requesting to expand it to a 384-acre landfill. Last year, Trinity transferred the existing waste permit for a property on Monsanto Road to one of its LLCs, called Remedial Holdings. This same landfill got a Notice of Violation in early 2022 from state regulators for “leaking” leachate, which is the contaminated liquid byproduct of waste facilities.

The city and county governments brought opposition to this proposal soon after. By the fall, the Maury County Commission had passed new zoning rules restricting industrial activity near the Duck River and the Jackson Law, which gives local governments power in landfill decisions. The planning commission for Maury County then rejected Trinity’s formal application for the landfill earlier this month.

Two weeks ago, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation to designate the Duck River within Maury County as “scenic,” which would prevent any landfill from being built within two miles of the biodiverse river. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law on Friday.

“There needs to be at least one piece of Middle Tennessee that’s still wild and beautiful,” said Sam Kennedy, a Maury County farmer who supports the legislation.

The Duck River ‘ran orange and yellow’

Monsanto is best known for Roundup, a popular weed killer that has been the subject of many lawsuits in recent years for its links to cancer. The main ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate, which Monsanto created in the 1970s.

The corporation, founded in 1901, initially created food additives like saccharine and vanillin, later expanding its chemical production to agricultural, pharmaceutical and weapons industries.

In 1936, Monsanto opened a phosphate mine and processing plant in Columbia in Maury County. Phosphorous is a common component of fertilizers, and this sometimes glowing, flammable element was also used in chemical warfare – bombs, phosgene gases, tracer ammunition and Agent Orange.

Some chemical waste from this operation ended up in the Duck River, according to anecdotal evidence from locals.

“It was so polluted that it often ran orange and yellow,” Kennedy said. “So when my dad was growing up, there was hardly any life.”

There is limited information on Monsanto’s Tennessee property, which was later designated as a Superfund for its high level of pollution. The Tennessee Department of Energy and Conservation is responsible for this Superfund and says the phosphate site has “issues related to contamination by hazardous substances.”

“All kinds of crap from that just got buried in the ground,” Banbury, of the Sierra Club, said.

Monsanto closed the plant in 1989, and several companies have bought permits and proposed developments in the decades since.

Is it safe to dig a landfill on a Superfund site?

The Environmental Protection Agency does not have electronic records of the Monsanto site available publicly.

With the site closing in the 1980s, not long after the EPA was created, Banbury says it’s unclear whether this site was monitored closely — and he argues more research is needed before anyone starts digging.

Trinity has denied that there are safety risks associated with the proposed project.

“There has been an extensive amount of due diligence performed on this property and there are no safety concerns related to the proposed uses for the property,” Trinity president Sidney “Sid” Brian said in an email.

This is all happening as trash anxiety increases statewide. The Middle Point Landfill in Murfreesboro accepts trash from about a third of Tennessee counties, and the roughly 200-acre facility may have less than a decade less of operation. Construction landfill space in Middle Tennessee is also rapidly narrowing.

The state can build more landfills, but a better option, according to Banbury, is changing the way the region deals with waste – with a focus on manufacturer responsibility.

Maury County native Sam Kennedy, III, farmer and co-owner of Kettle Mills Farm, a 212-year-old family farm run by the Delk and Kennedy families for seven generations, is speaking out in favor of a bill that would expand protections to the Duck River.

Kennedy, along with many others from Maury County, has spent this week reaching out to legislators to convey his concern that the fate of the drinking water and recreational use of the Duck River in the Southern Middle Tennessee region hinges on the approval of House Bill 0447. The water supply from Duck River serves approximately 250,000 people in the region.

The bill that would expand the river's Class II Scenic Waterway status by approximately two miles on the western side, was postponed Wednesday until next week by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

If passed, the bill would also thwart a proposed solid waste landfill from being developed nearby.

"The drinking water for the Southern Middle Tennessee region is at risk," Kennedy said. "The ability of my children to swim and play in the Duck River, which runs through my property is at risk, and my livestock's ability to drink the water in the river is at risk."

The river runs through Kennedy's generational farm, where he raises sheep and other livestock for processing. His ancestors once built a mill on the river, which opened up the waterway to business and commerce before World War II.

Kennedy said the river's health is important to the overall health of the entire community and region.

"The health of a community is directly related to its land and the natural resources around it," he said.

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, sponsor of the bill, conveys the same sentiment, citing the river as the "most biodiverse river in the world," as classified by environmental reports, showing the presence of numerous species of rare fish and aquatic life.

Trinity Business Group opposes bill, promotes landfill

Time ran out last Thursday during the committee's discussion, when long-silent landowner, Sid Brian, co-founder and president of Baton Rouge-based Trinity Business Group spoke before the committee, advocating to expand landfill operations at the former Monsanto Company chemical plant site in Columbia, located over a mile from the Duck River.

Opposing the landfill expansion, Cepicky made a plea to the House committee last week to strengthen the protections of the Duck River to preserve the health of the region's clean drinking water.

More:Bill to protect Duck River passes first state hurdle as landfill proposal looms in Columbia

More:Elected leaders rally to protect Duck River through proposed state bill

“This is a bill that is long overdue for Maury County,” Cepicky said last week during the previous committee meeting.

Cepicky has vowed to fight to preserve the waterway for drinking water and recreational use for future generations.

Meanwhile, Brian, under Trinity Business Group, has filed solid waste landfill permits with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, including a tire incinerator, on previously defunct land at the former Monsanto site. Brian’s presentation before the House committee sparked a lengthy Q and A last week, ultimately delaying the bill that would block Brian’s company from operating landfills at the site.

The Senate, however, stamped its unanimous approval of companion bill, SB 0464, approving the scenic status expansion of the river.

Cepicky explained to the House committee last week that the bill is a return to strengthen river protections just like he advocated for in 2013 when a property and zoning resolution placed a block on landfills within two miles of a portion of the Duck River.

“I am absolutely impacted by this bill,” Brian said. “And I am the target of this bill.”

While Brian said he would take “some of the blame” for “not getting our side of the story out sooner,” he was dismayed at what he deemed "inaccurate answers" from last week’s House committee hearing.

“We get it, water and the Duck, without a doubt are feel good, warm and fuzzies,” Brian said. “But it’s a hot topic.”

Some committee members took issue with Brian’s comments, implying that he shirked the serious matter of the potential impact of water purity in the Duck River.

“You describe water as warm and fuzzy,” committee member, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville said. “I was just struggling with that analysis of something that is just so basic for our survival. We have residents here from Maury County who are concerned about polllution in their community, who live in that community.”

Landfills developer argues land ownership rights

Three nonoperational landfills currently exist on the site near the Duck River that’s also near the former Monsanto Company site, where past site work caused pollutants to get into the river.

Brian’s aim for Trinity group is to utilize and expand one of the landfills on the 2,000 acres they control on the site.

Doubling down on his company’s intent to operate a 305-acre regional solid waste processing site, call it an eco-park, Brian believes his land ownership rights entitle him to do so in the State of Tennessee.

“Trinity Business Group is primarily filling a need,” Brian said, indicating that his proposed service to the area through the proposed landfill operations is an effort to alleviate soon-approaching top offs to Tennessee landfills by 2030.

Waste officials in the Middle Tennessee region have been grappling with where to process regional trash as landfills fill up, such as Middle Point landfill in Rutherford County, which has faced scrutiny such reaching capacity in the next 10 years and allegations of waterway pollution.

More:'A pending crisis': Rutherford County to ship out trash when Middle Point Landfill closes

More:City claim of landfill polluting river unconfirmed by state: 'No leachate was found'

Brian claimed to employ “extensive research,” in searching for the right spot, saying that “this property checks all the boxes," though it was not entirely clear, nor was it asked which boxes it checked.

2,000 letters: Maury County rallies strong showing to protect river

Cepicky, advocates and Maury County elected officials, including Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt, sent 2,000 letters of support for the bill, presenting concerns about Trinity Business Group's efforts to construct the solid waste landfills.

Cepicky explained that it took 60 years to restore the Duck’s crown status for biodiversity among world rivers and that he doesn't want the river's health to backslide, including the threat of leachate affecting the water through possible runoff from landfills.

“There are people alive right now, who would testify if I could get them here, that there was a time when they would not eat the fish from the Duck River,” Cepicky said. “You would not swim in the Duck River. It was that polluted.”

TDEC initially gave green lights to Trinity under a "permit-by-rule" ordinance, which allows land owners to bypass public input for existing sites.

In two letters from Brian and his attorney Thomas White, Brian argued that he retains property ownership rights for the acreage in question at the former Monsanto site, which should protect his company's efforts to continue landfill work.

He cited that during the months of May, June and July, four permit applications for tire processing were given the permit-by-rule exception by TDEC. White’s letter specifically make brief mention that a potential "lawsuit" could cost the state “tens of millions, if not hundreds” of millions of dollars.

Ahead of the proposed bill last fall, environmental advocates, with Cepicky and Maury County Commission Chairman of the Board Eric Priviti in attendance, held a meeting at the Memorial Building in Columbia to discuss their stance against Trinity's proposed permits to TDEC.

More on preservation:The latest in the battle of over a pristine Tennessee creek? A public records lawsuit.

Calling it a state obligation to enact zoning laws to protect the natural resource, Cepicky made his plea before the committee to help to retain clean, viable and recreational water sourcing for the foreseeable future.

Columbia resident Gale Moore, long-time community advocate for the environmental protection of the Duck River , joined others in email correspondence and updates over the past few months.

“A high powered Nashville law firm hired by an out-of-state industrialist should not out-trump hundreds of Maury County citizens, landowners and those who recreate on our river,” Moore said. “These are the people, who have spent time and effort to let you know that the Duck River is scenic and should be designated so.”

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COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Maury County neighbors are fighting to defend a new bill meant to protect the Duck River from a new landfill on a familiar site.

It’s arguably become one of the most talked about bills in the Tennessee legislature that you’ve probably never heard of. Some lawmakers have said they've never received this many phone calls and emails on any other issue.

That said, the people of Maury County and the surrounding areas feel like they’ve all seen this before.

John McEwan and his cousin Walker Hoye still remember stories of their grandparents explaining how years of pollution from the old Monsanto Chemical Company left dead fish floating downstream.

“I’ve grown up hearing stories that the Duck River was so polluted, livestock wouldn’t drink from it, and now, it’s one of the most biologically diverse streams in the world,” McEwen said.

Hoye says in the years since the Monsanto facility closed, the river has improved to where more than 250,000 people now rely on this as a source of their drinking water.

“I’ve got a baby daughter. She will be drinking from the Duck River. This is our only reservoir of water. My friends in Spring Hill and Mt. Pleasant, we all depend on this river for clean, healthy, sanitary water,” Hoye said.

This new bill sponsored by Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, and Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Howenwald, would designate the river as a Class II scenic river.

It’s a designation that protects the river from any industrial development within two miles of the shoreline, effectively ending plans for a proposed landfill on the Monsanto site less than 1,000 feet away.

Trinity Business Group purchased the property last year, and it wasn’t long before neighbors noticed work underway, which seemed to go against Maury County zoning laws already in place.

Columbia native Gale Moore says for years, county commissioners worked to create safeguards against developing near the river, but Trinity seemed to go around these laws by getting permits directly from the state.

“Ten years ago, almost to the day, another group tried to do the same thing. It was called the Mega Dump, and there was a huge community effort to stop it and it worked,” Moore said.

Moore hopes this time is no different and she’s enlisted the help of volunteers from across Tennessee. NewsChannel 5 Investigates met many of them on the river banks Monday afternoon. They were property owners, real estate agents, county commissioners and everyone in between.

All of whom volunteered their time to share their stories, as they have for the last several months.

Moore says this was never about taking down landfills, because she understands there's a need.

“We realize that is a huge need and I think as a county, we’re going to try to figure out how to meet that need without putting it on the river,” Moore said.

Meanwhile, Trinity President Sidney Brian has asked lawmakers not to be distracted by the intentions behind this bill.

“We get it, water in the Duck is without a doubt, feel goods, warm and fuzzies. When the topic shifts a little bit to waste and waste handling, even recycling, recovery, processing, and yes, landfilling, the subject shifts from warm and fuzzy to frankly hot,” Brian said.

Brian told lawmakers he got support from some county elected officials to buy the property and do the dirty work, but Brian hasn’t made it clear who gave him their blessing.

“No denying the need. There’s a need. There always has been and frankly until they come up with some options that aren’t available to us in this day in time, there’s going to continue to be a need,” Brian said.

Some lawmakers were quick to call out Brian for appearing to disregard concerns for water quality, while others defended Brian’s rights as a property owner.

Lawmakers will reconvene Wednesday morning for the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee where we expect a vote on if this bill moves forward toward the House floor.

Attorneys for Trinity have already sent a letter to lawmakers threatening legal action in the “tens of millions” if this bill prevents landowners from developing anywhere near the river.

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Concerned Maury Countians bussed to the Capitol last week to rally to protect the health of the Duck River, unifying an otherwise unlikely electorate.

Leaders hope to punctuate efforts to support the House's approval of House Bill 0447 that would extend Class II Pastoral River protections. The bill will be heard by the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday at 9 a.m. after being delayed last week in committee.

Last week, over 100 Maury County residents, environmental advocates and elected officials attended the Wednesday committee meeting to hear the fate of the Duck River. Packing the committee room, many wore T-shirts and green buttons labeled, "Vote Yes."

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, sponsor of the bill, said Friday in his five years as state representative, he has never seen such a high turnout of constituency for a bill.

The bill would extend the Duck River's Class II Pastoral River status, protecting it from intrusive development, such as a currently proposed solid waste landfill by Baton Rouge-based Trinity Business Group. The scenic protection designation would extend several miles along the Duck River’s eastern side from Industrial Park Road to the Hickman County line.

Related story:Jackson Law applies as first step to stop solid waste at Monsanto site

Related story:Maury Co. farmer, officials battle to protect Duck River as House considers scenic status bill

Landfill proposal hangs in balance

Trinity Business Group has filed three permit applications to construct solid waste processing facilities at the former Monsanto Company chemical plant Superfund site — to be called "Star Hill Echo Park" — that would include a tire incinerator, sorting and shredding of demolition waste and an energy recovery processing facility, according to the permit applications submitted last summer to the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation.

However, TDEC states that TBG does not adequately describe what kind of "energy recovery" will be conducted at the site nor addresses how it will handle liquid that drains from solid waste.

In Sept. 9 correspondence between TDEC and Trinity's consultant Barge Design Solutions, Inc., TDEC addresses Trinity's lack of an explanation regarding how it will dispose of liquid contaminants.

"Adequate detail on how liquids will be directed to a wastewater treatment facility were notprovided," TDEC correspondence says in the application.

Barge Solutions responds as follows: “Should treatment be necessary, the water will be pumped and hauled to the local POTW or disposed of through the City of Columbia sewer system under an industrial dischargepermit or treated on site under NPDES permit TN0001538 once modified to address theadditional inflow characteristics.”

Community rallies to protect resource

Maury County residents are fighting alongside Cepicky to keep the river clean for drinking and recreation — and out of range of landfill development.

Supporters of the bill have sent more than 1,000 emails, made flyers and in growing number, continue to make the drive to Nashville to attend committee hearings and talk to legislators.

Related story:Commission passes protection measures for development near Duck River

Almost 200 supporters of the bill attended the House committee meeting last week. Just as many are planning to attend the session this week.

Many officials and residents plan to make a return trip to Nashville this week, said County Commission Chairman Eric Previti.

“The people of Maury County have a vested interest,” Cepicky said. “This is not just some ordinary river.”

Related story:Bill to protect Duck River passes first state hurdle as landfill proposal looms in Columbia

Related story:Elected leaders rally to protect Duck River through proposed state bill

The Duck River has been named one of the most biodiverse rivers in the world, containing rare species of aquatic life, more than all rivers in Europe combined, according to environmental reports.

In the Senate, the companion bill SB 0464 passed unanimously, 33-0, on March 13, with no opposition. Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, serves as its sponsor.

Trinity Business Group founder speaks out

In a previous committee hearing on the bill, owner and founder of TBG, or the applicant, Sidney Brian spoke before the committee with attorney Tom White, pressing the committee to uphold his existing land owner rights on the property in order to allow his company to restore use of an inactive landfill on 305 acres.

Cepicky has previously criticized TBG for basing some of its permit applications on an old map from which they determined their distance from Columbia and the Duck River.

Some of TBG's permits have been questioned by city and county elected officials as falling under the state statute dubbed "The Jackson Law," which could thwart the development of the proposed landfills.

The Jackson Law requires city and county approval before a solid waste landfill can be constructed within a mile of that city. The city enacted the law several years ago, while the county approved it last fall.

Brian and White argue the Jackson Law is not applicable to landfills existing prior to the law’s passage, as marked on the application.

TBG maintains that the location of the landfill would be convenient and help process waste, which is becoming more difficult as landfills reach capacity in Middle Tennessee, according to a letter attached to the permit application, also claiming that the facility would lead to cost savings for the public.

"This is your classic battle of the people versus big industry," Cepicky said.

More about proposed 'Star Hill Echo Park'

Nashville-based firm, Barge Design Solutions, Inc., hired by Trinity’s subsidiary Remedial Holdings, LLC, filed a letter with their application on Jan. 17, appealing to Marshall/Maury Co. waste management members and TDEC representatives.

In the letter from Barge Division Lead C. Jason Repsher, Trinity addressed the Marshall/Maury Municipal Solid Waste Planning Regional Board, explaining why a massive waste management site is needed as landfills fill up across Middle Tennessee.

Star Hill Eco Park, could be set on as many as 1,373 acres, according to the company’s application with TDEC. The area falls in and around Monsanto federal superfund sites, tasked for clean-up and rehabilitation, managed by TDEC.

The landfill park in question would be located at or near 2262 Monsanto Road, and possibly fall within the TDEC 1,000-foot distance from a body of water rule for land developers.

TBG permits are pending with TDEC.

Duck River advocates, elected leaders and other Maury County land owners worry that the positioning of this landfill could potentially undo 60 years of pollutant cleanup.

Sam Kennedy, Maury County generational farm owner, spoke last week about his concern for his family's farm that has been in Maury Co. for almost eight generations.

“I’m here to represent my family farm on the Duck River, but also Maury County landowners for a scenic Duck River,” Kennedy said.

“My children are the eighth generation to live, work and play beside the river. The land has been cared for 212 years, and I’m already making plans to ensure that legacy makes it to 300.”