Dickson County landfill settlement requirements come to close

Over a decade ago, a black eye for Dickson County’s reputation and unity could begin to heal.

After more than 20 years of investigations and lawsuits connected to well contamination for a family living near the now-closed Dickson County landfill, the county and City of Dickson reached a settlement Dec. 8, 2011 with the Holt family as well as Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Today, the City and County have begun to set things right,” said Michael Wall, an NRDC attorney, in 2011.

Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, the city and county jointly contributed funds totaling $5 million to a remedy fund. An expert panel was selected to monitor and ensure the fund was used in order to educate the public, run water lines to the affected area, close contaminated water wells, and further remediate the problem when possible.

The federal court maintained jurisdiction of the case and the fund until March 31 of this year. Now, the county is no longer subject to any federal court supervision.

“This is due to the hard work of Dickson County Mayor Bob Rial, the county attorneys, and those other persons employed by the county to fulfill the purpose of the consent decree,” said county attorney Tim Potter. “The county is safer as a result of these efforts, and the effect on the taxpayers of the county was kept to a minimum.”

The county government will now be able to spend the money as it sees fit, which is expected to be running more water lines into the area.

The NRDC also understood that a “substantial amount” of the remedy fund money would remain unspent at the expiration of the federal oversight, according to court documents filed in Middle Tennessee federal court, and the county will now open an interest-bearing account with the remaining funds.

Related: Final Holt, Dickson County landfill lawsuit settled

Lawsuit filed

In 2007, Dickson County and the City of Dickson were sued in federal court by the NRDC on behalf of the Holt family in Dickson County. The lawsuit alleged that a volatile, colorless, liquid organic chemical known as trichlorethylene had contaminated the groundwater in an area near the old Dickson County Landfill.

The NRDC sought remediation of the contamination with a process called “pump and treat,” according to Potter.

“This process would have necessitated the construction of a pump station facility, the removal of groundwater in the affected area, and treatment of the same,” Potter said. “The cost of such a remedy exceeded $100 million by most expert calculations.”

County officials and experts said that pump station remedy was not practical due to “complex limestone geology of the county,” Potter said, adding that it also could have bankrupted the county or city.

Also, nine other members of the Holt family received a settlement of $7,500 each in 2017 as part of a separate lawsuit filed in 2004 in connection to the Dickson County Landfill.

Dickson County Landfill timeline

The following is a timeline of events connected to the Dickson County landfill:

1946 – City buys landfill property on Eno Road

1964 – Scovill-Schrader opens in Dickson

1968 – Scovill-Schrader drops off drums of industrial waste solvents at the landfill

1977 – City’s landfill taken over by Dickson County, 45-acre expansion approved by state

1988 – Government-funded test results show TCE in Harry Hold’s well

1991 – TDEC sends letter to Holt family stating the water was “of good quality”

1996 – levels of TCE exceed EPA standard

2000 – Holt well tests TCE levels 24 times higher than the maximum level allowed by the EPA

2000 – Holt family placed on Dickson city water

2001 – Majority of landfill capped. Household waste redirected to Camden, Tenn.

2003 – Holt family files suit against the city, county and Scovill, Inc.

2004 – Holt family adds racial discrimination to the complaint

2007 – Saltire, formerly Scovill Inc., files for bankruptcy. County settles with them for $400,000. 75 percent of funds given to affected families

2008 – NRDC files their own suit along with the Holts against county, city

2009 – ALP Lighting, Nemak, Interstate Packaging added to list of defendants

2010 – Expert testimonies gathered by both sides of case

2011 – Case set to go to trial March 1 in U.S. District Court in Nashville before Judge Todd Campbell

2011 – Trial delayed as settlement talks continued.

2011 – Dickson County settles with the Holt family in December 2011: County receives the $1.75 million paid in October by three companies as the settlement in the case involving NRDC. The county will then pay the Holt family the $1.75 million.

2011 – Dickson County settles with NRDC in December 2011: City of Dickson pays $1.12 million to the county to be paid toward the cases’ settlement. County will appropriate $5 million over 10 years to pay for investigations, testing, monitoring, remediation and consulting for the Dickson County Landfill and any contamination in and around the landfill.

Related:: EPA collection of documents for Dickson County Landfill

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Dickson County landfill settlement requirements come to close