Arkansas Mayor Expresses Concern Over Proposed Scrap Facility

Henry Buchanan, mayor of Lincoln, Ark., has been calling for a public hearing on a proposal by Bush Valley Recycling to build a scrap yard and aluminum smelting facility outside the city’s borders. While the mayor has no legislative authority in the matter, lately he has been asking the state of Arkansas’ Department of Environmental Quality to make sure that the facility applies for all the required permits needed to open the facility.

At the present time the company has received preliminary approval for an air emissions permit, although Buchanan says that the facility also should need a material recovery permit and a water permit.

Along with calling on the DEQ to closely monitor the proposed scrap facility, the mayor is calling for a public hearing on the project. What concerns Buchanan, as well as a number of other residents in the surrounding area is the possibility of large amounts of scrap metal will be stored on the one-acre site, creating a public nuisance. Along with the scrap being stored on site, the proposed scrap yard has applied for an aluminum king sweat furnace with an afterburner. According to the permit, the company will be able to operate the furnace for 2,500 hours a year.

According to local press reports, the scrap yard would take in aluminum that Roll Off Services Inc., a related company, collects from construction and demolition sites.

Another concern with the project is the track record of Tom Smith, the owner of both Roll Off Service and the newly proposed Bush Valley Recycling facility.

The draft permit calls for the emission of five pollutants, including carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide.