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Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet
Governor announces funding for cleanup at 1,244 dump sites
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 15, 2005) -- Governor Ernie Fletcher announced today that $3,141,285.20 in matching funds will be distributed from the Kentucky Pride Fund for cleanup of 1,244 illegal dumps in 88 counties.
This is the second round of funding from the Kentucky Pride Fund. In September 2004, more than $4.5 million in matching funds went for cleanup of 82 sites in 34 counties.
Significant progress has been made in addressing the illegal dump issue, due in large part to a statewide cleanup and an education campaign by local, state and federal agencies, said R. Bruce Scott, director of the Division of Waste Management in the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. The division administers the fund.
The estimated total cost of the second-round cleanup is $4,188,380.27. Participating counties provide a 25 percent match.
Dump sites were selected by division staff from a list of 2,250 open dumps reported by counties. Dumps were assigned priority on the basis of contents and environmental factors such as proximity to schools and water sources.
State funding for the dump cleanup is from a $1.75 environmental remediation fee for each ton of garbage generated in Kentucky and disposed of at municipal solid waste disposal facilities. The "tipping fee," authorized by the 2002 General Assembly under House Bill 174, is collected quarterly and placed in the Kentucky Pride Fund to help combat illegal dumping and finance the closure of old landfills.
The Pride Fund is the first legislated and ongoing source of state funding for this work. Illegal dump cleanup has been an ongoing project in Kentucky for several years, primarily using county and federal money.
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