Meno, Okla. — A California company kept dumping Kansas trash in Oklahoma on Thursday despite a state order, its chief executive said.
Ron Mittelstaedt of Waste Connections told the Associated Press the dumping at Red Carpet landfill will continue indefinitely. He said it's not unusual for landfills to accept garbage from other states.
"Every state in the country does it," he said. "It's very common."
Mittelstaedt said the state Department of Environmental Quality has verbally told his company the dumping is OK and has not asked the company to stop taking Kansas trash.
A cease order issued Tuesday by the DEQ ordered Waste Connections to stop dumping. The DEQ also issued a $220,000 fine to Waste Connections.
The company has until Jan. 22 to appeal.
The Daily Oklahoman reported Thursday in a copyright story the landfill is taking more than 200 tons of trash daily from Wichita, Kan. Mittelstaedt said the company has filed a state-required plan detailing the dumping.
But Oklahoma DEQ officials said the plan was not acceptable because it does not provide enough information about the kind of waste being dumped. They haven't approved a new plan.
DEQ records indicate the company was accepting an average of 668 tons more than 1.3 million pounds per day between Sept. 19 and Oct. 11.
Mittelstaedt said the company won't pay the fine because it has not violated the law.
The company can appeal to the DEQ and to district court. The cease order says the company could be fined up to $10,000 per day for failing to comply.
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has stopped several of the trucks, but no safety violations have been reported.
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