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.
