Residents Say Former Parkway Recycling Facility Still a Problem

The rotten stench of garbage. The din of metal crashing at any and all hours of the day. It’s still happening, residents of the Ladue Trails subdivision told Chesterfield City Council Wednesday night.

A state law shut down the recycling facility at Parkway Central High School last summer, but residents say that they’re still facing noises and smells from the facility site. Just last Friday, Margaret Bour said, she was awakened before 5 a.m. in her home on Agusta Drive by the clashing of metals that went on for hours and hours.

Scott Clayman, another resident on Agusta Drive, said he believes the facility continues to handle heavy scrap metal and hazardous materials within 500 feet of his neighborhood. The narrowly tailored law, enacted after a prolonged battle between the Parkway School District and the neighborhood, prohibits school districts located in Missouri cities with populations ranging from 46,800 to 47,000 from operating a recycling facility within 500 feet of a residential neighborhood. 

The has . The district claims the law violates a provision of the Missouri Constitution that prohibits the enactment of special or local legislation.

“It’s not a secret that the (Parkway School Board) wants to go back into business at this facility,” Clayman told city council. Board President Bruce Major previously told Chesterfield Patch that behind Parkway Central High, no matter the outcome of the lawsuit. The board has contracted its recycling services to QRS Recycling, Inc., which has facilities in St. Louis and Hazelwood. Major said in an interview that the district is saving money by allowing the private company to handle recycling for the district's 33 schools.

After receiving several complaints from residents within the last week, City Administrator Michael Herring said he contacted Parkway Superintendent Don Senti about the facility. Herring and Senti went to the former facility Tuesday, and neither liked what they saw, Herring said. Though it didn't violate any laws that he could see, Herring said, activities at the area clearly aren't in line with the "spirit of the law."

Herring said he saw two large, roll-off dumpsters, one full of building materials and other trash and the other with two plastic bags of recyclable materials inside. Herring said it was clear that Senti did not know why the recyclables would be there. Senti said that the other dumpster was full because if that material would fill up dumpsters closer to the school faster than the contract with their trash hauler allowed. Herring said Senti told him he would make plans to remove both dumpsters.

Herring also said there were several large, sealed drums that held the ballasts of fluorescent lightbulbs waiting to be removed by a contractor. Although Herring said the drums were being handled in the correct manner, he said this wasn’t an appropriate place to store them. Herring said Senti agreed to have them removed.

While the two were at the location, a truck arrived, and the driver pulled metal materials from the truck bed, causing a "horrendous screeching" and a “tremendous banging and clanging” as the materials were loaded onto a forklift, Herring said. Herring said that Senti explained that their trash-hauling contract doesn’t include that type of metal. Senti told Herring that it was ultimately destined for a dumpster on the other side of the Parkway Administration building, but was unloaded closer to the neighborhood because that’s where the forklift was stored. Herring said Senti agreed to unload the metal at a different location and drive the forklift to it.

“Clearly, the superintendent was caught by surprise with regard to what he was seeing personally,” Herring said. He added that Senti seemed committed to correcting these issues, which appeared to arise out of convenience—the area is a vacant asphalt lot so it’s easy to drop things there while the district figures out what to do with them later. Senti told Herring that he’s considering striping the area for parking.

Clayman said he appreciated Herring’s work, but said that he’d like to see some sort of city ordinance in place to take care of the problem.

“I’d like something to be in place for continuity, for when I’m gone, and you’re all gone, so that the safety of the environment isn’t a function of personalities, but a function of law,” Clayman told the council. 

Editor’s note: Chesterfield Patch will follow up with the Parkway School District about this issue.

In other council action:

• The council unanimously approved no more than $1 million from the Capital Improvement Sales Tax Fund for the reconstruction of Appalachian Trail from Olive Boulevard to Beaver Creek Drive. The contract was awarded to CDG Engineers.
• The council unanimously approved two contracts not to exceed $2 million for street maintenance throughout the city. Herring said this money has been allotted every year for about 10 years.
• The council unanimously approved a $50,000 contract with J&M Displays for Fourth of July fireworks. The city has used J&M Displays three times before; they were the only bidders. The council agreed that the fireworks last year, also done by J&M, were good. “They had plenty of oohs and ahhs at the appropriate moments,” Herring said in the council’s premeeting. “They’ve got it down to a science.”
• The council unanimously approved $41,900 for handicap access ramps on sidewalks. The money comes from Community Development Block Grant funds allotted by St. Louis County and has been spent in this manner for several years.
• The council enacted the same by St. Louis County. Adopting the ban allows Chesterfield Police to enforce the code and for violations to be handled in municipal court. The ban passed unanimously.
• The coucil voted unanimously to approve a land-use change that will allow for dentist offices in the shopping center at the corner of Clarkson Road and Lea Oak Court.

Clarification: This article has been updated to more accurately describe what is contained in the sealed drums on the property. (Last updated at 4:38 p.m. on Feb. 25.)