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Committee advances bill to bar future landfills on karst topography
Summary
Committee approved House Bill 1576 to prohibit locating new solid-waste landfills on karst topography; sponsors said the measure would not affect current landfills or ongoing expansions.
State Representative Robin Lundstrom, District 18, told the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that House Bill 1576 would prevent future solid-waste landfills from being sited over karst topography — underground limestone and dolomite formations with fissures that can transmit contaminated water.
“This doesn't impact any current landfills. It doesn't impact any expansions of current landfills. This just says in the future, we won't put one over a karst topography,” Lundstrom said, describing karst as fissured rock where leachate from a landfill could enter groundwater.
Representative Richardson asked whether the bill would limit siting in limestone-heavy areas; Lundstrom said Arkansas has a lot of limestone but not all limestone areas have karst features. A committee member asked whether the Eco Vista landfill expansion would be affected; Lundstrom said existing operators still must seek Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment (ADEE/DEQ) approval for expansions and that the bill would not retroactively block current permits.
A committee voice vote approved an amendment and then the bill as amended; Representative Bentley moved a do-pass recommendation. The transcript records voice votes only; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the committee minutes included in the hearing transcript.
Sponsor comments stressed the bill is preventive and intended to protect groundwater and future community health by keeping new landfills off vulnerable geologic formations.
