Extortion in Arkansas Part 14 - UPCOMING Carroll County Court Hearing 11/26/19: $18 Trash Tax

Extortion In Arkansas - Part 14 regarding the NABORS Landfill Bond Default
 
CARROLL COUNTY COURT HEARING re. $18 TRASH TAX FEE

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Heads Up! The next Court Hearing on the Trash Tax/ “service fee” is Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at the Carroll County Courthouse in Berryville, Arkansas.

Secure Arkansas is writing this article because the State Attorney General’s (AG) office has become involved in this illegal and unconstitutional trash tax/”service fee” that was forced upon residents in Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Newton and Searcy Counties. Looks like the AG’s office is maneuvering to manipulate, defend, and pull strings for Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), an out-of-control agency that is involved in this ongoing illegal trash tax/ “service fee” scheme. ADEQ is the state equivalent to the federal Enviornmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Secure Arkansas recently sent out one simple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to our State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge Office on October 17, 2019, asking for information regarding the Carroll County Court Hearing referenced above and we were told that ” … such records would nevertheless be exempt as working papers of the Attorney General under the FOIA (Ark. Code Ann. 25-19-105(b)(7). Your request is therefore respectfully denied.”  Evidently, the AG wants this case to be dismissed! Appears there is a lot to cover-up, does it not?

There have been 6 cases filed so far.  Here’s the Case ID: 08ECV-18-116

Paul Summers V Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District

Filing Date: Wed., May 16th, 2018
Docket Report Results - Not an Official Document  
(Found at this caseinfo site)

People, we had better hope and pray this case IS allowed to continue to the Arkansas Supreme Court! Why should EVERY Arkansas business or property owner be concerned? Judge Fox ruled that tax collectors could charge this unconstitutional illegal fee STATEWIDE!

Oh, how the state government and many other players have conspired to beat the taxpayer out of more of their money and get away with allowing NABORS Landfill (Listed as Ozark Solid Waste District $18.00 Fee on Tax Statement), a Class 1 hazardous landfill, to become a harbor of deadly chemicals, toxic waste, radioactive substances… and who knows what else is being done (or has been done) at this dangerous site! Remember, there are witnesses who state that they have seen out-of-state trucks dumping at the landfill.  (NABORS is an acronym for North Arkansas Board of Regional Sanitation.) Be sure to check the end of our article for links to previous alerts we’ve written on this topic. 

Secure Arkansas has been doing some research and ran across a nationwide waste disposal company incorporated in Chicago, Illinois named ADCO Services, Inc. This company deals in Hazardous Waste Disposal and Radioactive Waste Disposal in Arkansas and the nation. In Arkansas, ADCO Services has service locations in Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Bentonville areas and uses its sister company, ADCOM Express, Inc to transport radioactive waste. Is radioactive waste being dumped in Arkansas? Could some of these unmarked out-of-state trucks be dumping this radioactive waste in the NABORS landfill?

Check out the following article on ADCO Services: “Chicago radioactive waste facility shutting down amid safety scandal” One resident of Tinley Park told Goudie that he had no idea what was happening at the ADCO facility in his neighborhood, and he’s likely not the only one unaware that the company has been silently disposing of supposedly low-level radioactive waste there for decades. Presumably even less likely then would be finding a Tinley Park resident who has lived quietly alongside such facility, knowingly aware that the building has been the site of several violations, the likes of which have prompted reprimands from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s federal officials.

ADCO hasn’t always abided by the rules with regards to storage such materials, though, and has ended up in hot water because of it.

The following is one of the latest news articles of the failed and catastrophic NABORS Landfill in Baxter County, Arkansas by Scott Loftis of the Carroll County News dated October 8, 2019. PLEASE be informed, and click the link above to read the entire news article. Remember — the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office is getting involved! Shown directly below are a few snippets:

It’s necessary to read this ENTIRE news article! And please consider subscribing to this local newspaper as well.

The $18 assessment, which is being charged to property owners in the six counties included in the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, is intended to repay bondholders who purchased $12,340,000 in bonds issued by the solid waste district in October 2005 to finance the purchase of the North Arkansas Board of Regional Sanitation (NABORS) Landfill in Baxter County. The assessment, which could continue for 30 years or more, also is intended to repay the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) for up to $16.5 million in costs related to closing and cleaning up the landfill.

The article goes on to say:

The amended complaint notes that “while the bondholders were secured by certain assets, ADEQ had no basis for recovery from OMSWD at that time.”
That changed with the Act 274. That legislation “bestowed a gift upon ADEQ and the bondholders,” the amended complaint says, in the form of special language added by then-state Sen. Johnny Key of Mountain Home and then state-Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson of Pulaski County. Key is now director of the Arkansas Department of Education. Hutchinson, a nephew of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, resigned from his Senate seat after being indicted on federal charges of wire fraud and filing false tax returns. He pleaded guilty in federal courts in Arkansas and Missouri earlier this year to accepting multiple bribes and committing tax fraud.
The special language included in Act 274 created a mechanism for ADEQ to sue other governmental entities to recover funds expended from the Landfill Post-Closure Trust Fund — “In effect authorizing ADEQ to replace taxpayer money with taxpayer money,” the amended complaint says.

The amended complaint goes on to say that the amendment including the special language “delivered exactly the bailout the bondholders and ADEQ had been seeking for years.” It adds that the provision has been renewed as part of the ADEQ appropriations bill every year since 2014, “despite the express outrage and promised legislative fixes made by various members of the General Assembly whose districts overlap with OMSWD.”

The entry of appearance by the Attorney General’s Office is just the latest legal maneuver in the ongoing case. Carroll County Circuit Judge Scott Jackson has not yet ruled on a motion by Little Rock attorney Geoffrey Treece, the court-appointed receiver for the waste district, seeking the dismissal of the suit. That motion was the topic of a Sept. 13 court hearing in Berryville.
Attorneys on both sides have filed motions seeking summary judgment — essentially asking Jackson to rule in their favor on the basis of already-established facts — and both Bank OZK (formerly Bank of the Ozarks) and Crews & Associates have filed motions seeking to squash subpoenas issued by the plaintiffs. Bank of the Ozarks served as trustee for the bondholders. Crews & Associates, which served as underwriter for the bonds, Crews is the investment banking arm of First Security Bancorp, a privately held company that is headquartered in Searcy and operates 75 First Security Bank locations across Arkansas. 

Once again, we want to familiarize our readers with some of the details. For one, several changes to the hazardous landfill name have been conducted over the years… we believe because this has been a hot bed of corruption!

1. R.L.H. Landfill

2. Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District (Established 1991)

a. Damco Tire Dump – The Tire Dump was sold to Northwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Management District in 2005.

3. Ozark Mountain Solid Waste Management District (2011)

4. Northwest Arkansas Board of Regional Sanitation (NABORS) Landfill

5. NABORS Sanitation

Note: The Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District AND the Ozark Mountain Regional Solid Waste Management District are overseen by some of the same board members.

Now, let us examine the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), a governmental agency out of control! One thing we know for sure is ADEQ is not looking to protect the people of Arkansas. 

ADEQ seems to be in bed with the Arkansas Legislators when it comes to their sweetheart unconstitutional acts that burden the good people of Arkansas. 

Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) appropriations need to be terminated until their unconstitutional acts are stopped. 

The Arkansas Legislators must correct Act 1076 of 1991 signed by Govenor Jim Guy Tucker to require ADEQ to secure a legal search warrant signed by a judge to allow ADEQ to make an inspection of a property. ADEQ should have do the same thing that law enforcement must do if they want to search a property. Remember, even law enforcement officials do not have this kind of frightening power!

This contemptible Act 1076 allows the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to perform unconstitutional, warrant-less searches. If consent to inspect is denied, the department may obtain an administrative inspection warrant from a judicial officer. Any willful and unjustified refusal of right of entry and inspection to department personnel shall constitute a misdemeanor subject to a fine of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or civil penalties up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($ 25,000). This heavy-handed penalty is listed in the Arkansas code at § 8-1-107 section (f)

Click here to read a previous Secure Arkansas article written in 2015 on ADEQ warrant-less searches.

ATTENTION! We need to remove the bondholder protection racket and the strong arm tactics of ADEQ that have been passed in these bills listed below. The following six unconstitutional acts cover the fatal sweetheart acts to protect ADEQ and the bondholders, PLUS they place police-type power into the hands of ADEQ! The lead sponsor of these bills was the Joint Budget Committee. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and former Senator Johnny Key from Baxter County where the toxic landfill is located deceived the public trust with this political maneuver of using the Joint Budget Committee to create this fraud on the public. (Former Senator Johnny Key is now the dreaded Arkansas Commissioner of the State Board of Education.) 

• Act 274/HB1040 of 2014 is the legislation that created the unconstitutional problem in an appropriation bill that attempted to protect both ADEQ and the hidden bondholders.  This legislation was secretly inserted in the appropriation bill on bage 22 by former Senator Johnny Key. This section of Act 274 is in effect only from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017. 

• Act 77/HB1188 of 2015 is the ADEQ appropriation bill that restated the same provision of Act 274 with the same in effect only from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017 to protect both ADEQ and the bondholders. 

• Act 249/HB1036 of 2016 is the ADEQ appropriation bill that restated the same provision of Act 274 with the same in effect only from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017 to protect both ADEQ and the bondholders. 

• Act 1001/HB1393 of 2017 extended the provisions of Act 274 from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 to protect both ADEQ and the bondholders. 

• Act 254/HB1084 of 2018 extended the provisions of Act 274 from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019 to protect both ADEQ and the bondholders. 

• Act 903/HB1213 of 2019 extended the provisions of Act 274 from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020 to protect both ADEQ and the bondholders. . The Senate vote was 34 Yeas and 1 was excused. The House vote was 85 Yeas, 2 Nays, 12 non-voting and 1 voting present.

In Secure Arkansas’ continued research, we found that some legislators and judges have investments in the Bank of the Ozarks (now Bank OZK) and Crews & Associates. Most of these investments were greater than $12,500. We’ve suspected that many of the Arkansas Senators and Representatives involved with passing legislation which attempts to protect the Bondholders of NABORS Bonds are some of the bondholders themselves.

Owning stock aligns the interest of the firms with those of their stock holding politicians who implement the law. So, both the firm AND the stockholders benefit when lawmakers act in ways that benefit their investment portfolio! What this boils down to is this: the lawmaker can act as a lobbyist. Yes, in this illegal trash tax case, we the people have fallen victim to a spread of a six-county-wide tax collection of taxpayer funds. This undermines public trust!

Corporate money in politics is definitely complicated! Bank OZK (formerly The Bank of the Ozarks) is the Trustee for “the Bondholders” and is now receiving the taxpayer’s money. The following people listed below appear to have a conflict of interest. (Secure Arkansas thinks there are more legislators and players to be found). *Could they be possible bondholders, too?

1. Circuit Judge Timothy Fox has reported on his 2015 and 2016 Statement of Financial Interest of investments greater than $12,500 in the Bank of the Ozarks.(Note: The Bank of the Ozarks is the Trustee of the bondholders. Also, on July 16, 2018 the Bank of the Ozarks name was changed to Bank OZK… What was up with this name change? Could it be that they are trying to distance themselves from ramifications of the pending lawsuits and who knows what else?) Secure Arkansas is still asking: what elected official came forth and requested the Attorney General’s opinion regarding whether Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s court ruling was statutorily valid? Is Govenor Hutchinson involved in bringing in the Attorney General’s office? 

2. Senator Missy Irvin – Stone County; Senate 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019. Reported on her Statement of Financial Interest for 2016 under Section 4 Business or Holdings Crews & Associates has holdings greater than $1,000 but less than $12,500. John Irvin custodian for Ike Irvin.

3. Senator Will Bond – Pulaski County; First term House 2003, 2005, 2007, Senate 2017, 2019. Reported on his Statement of Financial Interest for 2016 under Section 4 Business or Holdings – Bank of the Ozarks has holdings greater than $1,000 but less than $12,500.

4. Senator Bruce Maloch – Columbia County JP 10 years; House 2005, 2007, 2009, Senate 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 Reported on his Statement of Financial Interest for 2016 under Section 4 Business Holdings Bank of the Ozarks bond due 7/1/26 has holdings greater than $12,500.

5. Senator Gary Stubblefield – Franklin County; First term House 2011, Senate 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019. Statement of Financial Interest for 2016 under Section 4 Business Holdings Bank of the Ozarks has holdings greater than $12,500

6. Representative Frances Cavenaugh – Lawrence County; First term House 2017, 2019. Statement of Financial Interest for 2016 under Section 4 Business Holdings Bank of the Ozarks has holdings greater than $12,500 (Owner Donald Cavenaugh, married to Rep. Francis Cavenaugh from Walnut Ridge. She is the House Chair for Joint Budget Claims).

7. Representative Jon Eubanks Paris School Board; House 2011, 2013, 2015, Speaker Pro Tem 2015, 2017. Statement of Financial Interest for 2016 under Section 4 Business Holdings Bank of the Ozarks has holdings greater than $12,500

8. Attorney Geoffrey B. Treece of Little Rock is the court-appointed receiver for Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District on the NABORS $18 Trash Tax Fee. Treece contributed at least $450 to Judge Timothy Fox the last political race for office.

SPECIAL NOTE: 
If you have had your property tax statement hijacked and are now expected to pay 
more taxes because of this unconstitutional illegal trash tax/”service fee” (lack of jurisdiction) 
which was levied in the 6-county-affected area, then PLEASE do your best to attend 
this next court hearing November 26, 2019 in Berryville.
 

Shouldn’t we pay special attention to sites that are closing? Is there radioactive hazardous waste in NABORS Landfill? Did this landfill ever get out of control? What agencies are actually involved? Both federal and state appear to have been in this dump! Has NABORS really been an unregulated landfill? Is there an elevated risk for undisclosed, unmonitored, and ongoing radiation exposure there? Especially In the Three Brothers Area in the area of Mountain Home, Arkansas. How many people have cancer? There has NOT been proper public disclosure or reporting on NABORS Landfill and the public should demand accountability! Record keeping at the landfill is very vague and so-called robberies have been reported! We need to see the data collection, don’t we?

What does the proper clean-up of the landfill entail there in Mountain Home? It’s been projected that it could take 20 or 30 years for clean-up! Did you know that radioactive elements are invisible? 

Remember, the people, agencies, or independent companies overseeing this site could have incentives to release this site from restrictions and control quickly…saying, “We have budget restrictions.” Secure Arkansas believes some of this deadly junk will be introduced into the recycling industry which could end up anywhere. Most radiation health impacts are not immediately detected, folks!

In 1970, under President Nixon, the US Environmental Protection Agency was created by Congress and directed to supposedly protect the public from radiation.

See the Radioactive Waste Management Glossary from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) printed in 2003: 

closure. (1) Administrative and technical actions directed at a repository at the end of its operating lifetime — for example covering the disposed waste (for a near surface repository) or backfilling and/or sealing (for a geological repository and the passages leading to it) — and termination and completion of activities in any associated structures. (2) Administrative and technical actions directed at a tailings impoundment to place it in a condition such that little or no future surveillance and maintenance are required. The same concept may apply to mining debris piles, heap and in situ leaching piles, and mines. The term closeout is also sometimes used to describe this concept.

contamination. (1) Radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable, (2) the presence of such substances in such places or (3) the process giving rise to their presence in such places.

decommissioning plan. Documentation containing information on the proposed decommissioning activities for a facility. This would allow the regulatory body to make a proper evaluation to ensure that decommissioning of the facility can be performed in a safe manner.

remedial action. Action taken when a specified action level is exceeded, to reduce a radiation dose that might otherwise be received, in an intervention situation involving chronic exposure. Examples are: (a) actions which include decontamination, waste removal and environmental restoration of a site during decommissioning and/or closure efforts; (b) actions taken beyond stabilization of tailings impoundments to allow for other uses of the area or to restore the area to near pristine conditions.

For your convenience, we have listed the past 13 articles below for those interested in further history regarding the travesty of the trash tax/”service fee.”

Part 1 - Tax Increase – Trash Tax for 6 Counties in Northern Ark.
Part 2 - Tax Increase
Part 3 - Tax Increase & ACTION ITEM!  
Part 4 - Tax Increase & Landfill “Fee” Protest Meeting 3/17/18
Part 5 - Tax Increase & Berryville and Mtn Home March Meetings (2018)
Part 6 - Tax Increase and 4/2/18 Newton County Quorum Court Mtg
Part 7 - Tax Increase – Constitutional Resolution Required to Support Exclusive Original Jurisdiction Against $18 Trash Tax/Service Fee
Part 8 - Tax Increase & Info on GIF Funds
Part 9 - Tax Increase – Special OMSWD Mtg 7/2/18 in Harrison, Ark. & ACTION ITEM
Part 10 - Tax Increase and NABORS Landfill Bond Default Hearing 8/28/18 in Berryville, Ark
Part 11 - Tax Increase – Circuit Judge Fox is in the Hen House – Conflict of Interest w/Bank OZK
Part 12 - Possible Bondholders
Part 13 - Carroll County Court Hearing: $18 Trash Tax Final Hearing

In closing, why has this become an issue about the greedy bondholder and them being financially protected? This should have been handled differently. This should have been about what the public has been exposed to in the area. Instead, residents in the 6 county area have now been illegally and unconstitutionally taxed with a service fee/trash tax. Millions of taxpayer money is now being routed into Bank OZK. Unbelievable! This is why we should… follow the money, dear reader!

As always, you can find our email articles posted on our website: SecureArkansas.com.  The Search box is a handy tool.  

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Securing the blessings of liberty,

Secure Arkansas
securetherepublic.com/arkansas
[email protected]

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