This story filed by KTLO reporter Ray Dean Davis on October 23rd is one of dozens of stories the station has broadcast over several years regarding the Nabors Landfill and Hauling situation. The landfill, located in northern Baxter County, was a privately-owned facility that a number of years ago was purchased by a quasi-governmental solid waste district comprised of six counties. The landfill is in an area that features karst geography in an environmentally sensitive region that is home to two large Corps of Engineers impoundments, Bull Shoals and Norfork Lakes, as well as a world-famous trout fishery, the White River, that generate significant tourism. Over several years, the district was unable to get the state environmental regulatory agency to approve numerous engineering plans for mandated remediation required at the landfill. That, coupled with several counties opting to haul their waste to other landfills, created a crisis that ultimately caused the district to default on bonds issued for the purchase of the landfill--the first time a public entity defaulted on bonds in Arkansas in modern times. The landfill and hauling operation has now ceased operations, but the district does not have the finances to properly close and monitor the landfill. Since this story was filed, the state has now filed a lawsuit against the district, but concerns about the landfill's impact on the local environment continue.

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