Beech Tree News Network

Judge Ronnie C. Dortch has ruled in favor of Butler County and the City of Morgantown concerning the Butler County Landfill.  Judge Dortch ruled that the City of Bowling Green could not terminate the contract, that any notice by the City of Bowling Green to Butler County or the City of Morgantown to exercise the option to purchase was null and void, and that the City of Bowling Green had no right to subdivide the property.

The City of Bowling Green, who owns the Butler County Landfill, located on Doolin Lake Road off Rochester Road, entered into a contract on November 30, 1977, to operate a landfill for the purpose of household waste.  Bowling Green operated the landfill between 1978 and the late 1990s.

The Division of Waste Management is currently overseeing closure activities at the Butler County Landfill, which will occur in phases over an unidentified number of years.  Surface water monitoring is performed until surface water no longer discharges from the landfill into Kentucky waters.

The Bowling Green City Commission, on August 6, 2013, approved a municipal order declaring the 67 acres surplus and approving an agreement to sell the property to Owl’s Head Alloys for $167,500. Owl’s Head Alloys plans to use the property as a landfill to dispose of salt slag, according to the municipal order.

The City of Bowling Green notified both the Butler County Fiscal Court and the City of Morgantown of their intention to sell the land in a letter dated December 2, 2013. The original agreement on the landfill states that both Butler County and the City of Morgantown have to be given the first chance to purchase the property.

Butler County filed a declaratory judgment action in the Circuit Court in May of 2014 requesting that the court enter a ruling declaring that the City of Bowling Green had no right to cancel the contract until such time as the property was released by all environmental agencies.

An article on June 21st, 2014 in the Bowling Green Daily News stated that Owl's Head intends to open a landfill on the property for the purpose of disposing of salt slag, the sale price of the land would be $167,500, with Owl's Head Alloys agreeing to pay legal expenses incurred by the City of Bowling Green.

A hearing was held by the court on August 29, 2014, as a result the County’s motion for a Temporary Injunction was denied and parties were ordered to conduct mediation within sixty days.  The court also ordered that the City of Bowling Green take no further steps towards the sale of the property.

On December 16, 2014, the City of  Bowling Green filed a Motion to Set Briefing Schedule, advising that efforts to resolve the case were unsuccessful.

On February 2, 2015 the parties filed a Stipulation of Facts signed by all three parties. 

On September 15, 2015 Judge Dortch entered the following ruling:

• It is therefore ordered and adjudged that the Solid Waste Landfill Agreement cannot be terminated by the Defendant, City of Bowling Green, until such time as the 256 acre tract of land, which is the subject of the Solid Waste Landfill Agreement, is released by all federal, state, and local environmental and regulatory agencies.

• It is further ordered and adjudged that any notice to the County and/or City to exercise the option to purchase under the Solid Waste Landfill Agreement shall not be effective till such time as the City of Bowling Green has complied with all state and federal requirements.

• It is further ordered and adjudged that the City of Bowling Green has no right to subdivide the 256 acres to sell the same under the terms and conditions of the Solid Waste Landfill Agreement.

The City of Bowling Green filed an appeal to the Kentucky Court of Appeals on September 30, 2015.