Landfill Lawsuit Pits Growing Arkansas Community Against Waste Giant

An aerial view of part of the Eco-Vista Landfill in Tontitown. It stands accused of polluting air and water, and is filling up rapidly. [PHOTO provided]

The legal stink over Waste Management Inc.’s Eco-Vista Landfill in Tontitown is headed for court as the state analyzes a set of air toxin tests from last month.

The 620-acre site in Washington County has drawn complaints about noxious fumes and possible groundwater contamination for years. It’s northwest Arkansas’ only licensed landfill and the defendant in lawsuits in Washington County Circuit Court.

The first suit seeks to halt landfill expansion plans, and the second, a class action, seeks damages for the effects of odors and noxious fumes.

Environmental consulting firm CTEH of North Little Rock found potentially hazardous levels of benzene, acrolein and other compounds in air tests last year. But scientists said they couldn’t confirm that they came from the landfill.

“The issue in a nutshell is that the [Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality] says yes, we’ve got some bad fumes out here, but we can’t prove they’re coming from the landfill,” said state Rep. Steve Unger, R-Springdale. “To me, this is just incredible. There’s no heavy industry in Tontitown.”

The state Department of Energy & Environment announced May 30 that CTEH had completed air tests. Results on hazardous fumes should be available by the end of this month.

Three residents living within 3 miles of the landfill, including a former University of Arkansas quarterback, filed the class action against Eco-Vista LLC in April. It alleges that fumes from the landfill have sickened residents, forced them to keep doors and windows shut and hurt their property values.

The plaintiffs, former Razorback Mark Calcagni, Dennis Boyer and Kenneth Lovett, claim the landfill has become a public nuisance and accuse Eco-Vista, a Waste Management subsidiary, of negligence. They contend that Eco-Vista’s on-site plant that turns landfill gas into renewable energy has substandard filters and emits toxic gases.

In a set of July 3 filings, Eco-Vista attorney Philip A. Elmore of the Quattlebaum Grooms & Tull firm asked the court to deny class-action status to the lawsuit, arguing that the purported class doesn’t pass legal muster. He also asked for the case to be dismissed. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and asking for damages and improved practices.

The landfill site, described as the largest in the state, is also filling fast. It takes in 100 tons of waste per day in a region that’s growing by about 260 new residents per week, according to Unger.

“Tontitown is one of the fastest-growing communities in Arkansas [with a population of nearly 8,000], and we’re digging up real estate to put trash on it,” said Unger, who estimates the landfill could max out in five years. Others argue that with expansion, the landfill could accept waste for 15 years or more.

But Unger is doubtful. “The site of the landfill is bound by roads and natural gas pipelines, and so even if the courts gave Waste Management everything they’re asking for, they’re still going to come to a point where they just can’t pile it any higher.”

Waste Management of Houston, which had 2024 net income of $2.75 billion on $22 billion in revenue, did not respond to multiple requests for comment emailed to its media department. It has previously declined to comment on litigation.

But CEO Jim Fish said in a recent CNBC interview that future revenue goals rely in part on WM’s natural gas plants. “The landfill produces gas, so why not take that gas and turn it into renewable natural gas, which, by the way, then powers our fleet.” Compressed natural gas fuels about 75% of WM’s vehicles, Fish said. “And because you have a CNG fleet, you can sell the [renewable energy] credits, which make that a really good business for us.”

Meanwhile, Tontitown Mayor Angela Russell argues that the city’s fee arrangement is outdated and unfair. Tontitown gets 55 cents per ton of trash hauled in, while other entities like ADEQ and county solid waste districts get $2 per ton. In June, WM paid more than $108,000 to ADEQ compared with just under $24,000 to Tontitown.

The city and Russell have appealed ADEQ’s 2024 decision to issue a new permit for Eco-Vista. The next court date in that case will be Sept. 5.

Mayor Describes Symptoms

The mayor says the fumes have sickened her and many of her neighbors, causing dizziness, nausea and headaches. Russell told Arkansas Business she herself has been to the hospital several times.

“My house is literally right next to the landfill,” she said. “I wake up in the middle of the night and I’m very lethargic. I have massive headaches. It’s hard to breathe and I could hardly walk across the room.”

Residents want to live without fumes affecting them and their property values, Russell said. “They want the landfill to operate better, for sure. We want to be able to breathe and live our lives.”

State Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, just north of Tontitown, notes that simply building a new landfill nearby is unworkable because of the area’s karst topography. Karst is a landscape of limestone easily eroded by dissolution, with water seepage creating ridges, fissures and sinkholes.

The land is particularly susceptible to groundwater pollution, and dye tests in 2022 suggested that runoff from the planned landfill expansion site ended up in a nearby creek.

“The biggest concern is groundwater contamination and then air contamination,” Lundstrum told Arkansas Business. “It’s something all in northwest Arkansas should be concerned about, because we need a good landfill operating at high efficiency. It’s our only option right now, but we need multiple options. As we continue to grow, we’re going to have to deal with additional waste.”

Lundstrum sponsored a bill in the spring legislative session that would have barred new landfills on karst land. “It passed in the House quite well, but it did not make it out of the Senate Public Health Committee,” Lundstrum said. “So [landfill placement] is something we have to talk about. We have to go somewhere … that is not over karst. I’m suggesting we do it in a better place.”

Gasification Option

Unger, Lundstrum and Russell all noted that Siloam Springs is considering building a gasification plant to handle its municipal waste. They say gasification could be a long-term solution far beyond Siloam Springs, a Benton County city of 23,000 hard bounded to the west by the Oklahoma line.

Gasification treats waste at high temperatures in low oxygen to produce synthetic gas. It leaves behind relatively little solid waste to dispose of and produces syngas that can be burned to generate electricity or used as feedstock for creating synthetic diesel, gasoline and hydrogen.

“In my humble opinion, we’re behind the ball,” Lundstrum said. “We have to do something now. … There’s nothing formal, no procedure in line, and no search committee for the next plant.

“We’ve got to do this now, and in the proper location, with updated technology,” she continued. “Should we look at gasification, or other methods, along with landfill? We need to start getting answers to these questions.”