STELLA, Mo. — A tear in the plastic liner of a Denali wastewater basin in McDonald County has raised concerns in Jefferson City and changed plans for emptying it and a similar basin in Newton County near Fairview.
Heather Peters, water pollution control branch chief at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said the liner tear was discovered several days ago but that the agency didn’t fully understand the scope of the problem until last week.
“When we were notified about it, we understood the tear was above the liquid level,â€Â Peters said.
However, regulators have since confirmed there was liquid under the liner and it was starting to float.
Peters said the basin affected is on property leased by Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions, which built the basin, located south of Stella in McDonald County.
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“We are working with Denali to address that issue, and we’re working through a couple of different options potentially on how to address that,†Peters said. “We are prioritizing that basin and having them continue to empty that basin and we also want to address how much liquid was under there, how much liquid, if any, has been released.â€
Denali uses the two lagoons in Southwest Missouri to store residual waste from dozens of meat and food processing and manufacturing plants across Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. That material was being spread on fields as fertilizer, but many residents in the region had objected to the practice because of odors and concerns about its impact on water quality, property values and their health.
Abatement order
Denali was ordered by the DNR to discontinue land applying the material earlier this year and to empty its basins in the state.
Denali said in a written statement it emailed to The Joplin Globe on Thursday that it was during that process that the tear was discovered.
“Since February, Denali has been working to remove the food processing residuals stored in the lagoon near Stella and to supply this resource to farmers in other states as a fertilizer,†Denali said. “In the course of this work, Denali discovered a tear in the lagoon liner and immediately reported the situation to the Department. Since that time, we have worked with the Department to assess whether there have been any impacts, and we continue to monitor the integrity of the lagoon.â€
Each stores about 14 million gallons of waste, which opponents have characterized as “sludge.â€
Peters said these basins have different lining systems that have compacted clay at the bottom to keep material from seeping into the soil underneath and around the basin.
The basin in McDonald County had a lining system that included the compacted clay base but also required a plastic liner.
“They had the permeability ratings for that and it was relatively impermeable; however, it didn’t quite meet our standards, hence the plastic liner,†Peters said. “So it appears to be holding the liquid that was under the plastic lining, but we want to confirm that. We are looking at conducting some sampling outside the basin to determine whether we think anything is seeping through or has seeped through that basin.â€
Background
Peters said the fastest way to empty the basins would be to apply the material to land around the basins, but the DNR is not considering that option because Denali was ordered in November 2023 to stop its land application.
That order came after an incident in McDonald County in October 2023 where it had been overapplied during wet weather and had flowed into a tributary of the Elk River.
“I know one of the concerns that came up was, ‘Are you going to just let them empty it out and land apply it down there?’†Peters said. “The answer to that is no. We’ve taken a number of enforcement steps to prohibit land application immediately around that basin. We’re not going to go backward on any of those steps and those efforts.â€
Denali’s ability to operate the basins in Newton and McDonald counties as they were built also could be affected by whether Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signs legislation that passed the Missouri House and Senate that changes the rules for operating them.
The bills, co-sponsored by Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-Noel, and Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby, include rules for setbacks in areas with occupied homes and businesses, as well as other changes.
“If the governor’s office signs House Bill 2134 and 1956, this basin cannot be used in the future as is anyway,†Peters said. “Obviously, we wouldn’t allow it to be used as it is with the torn liner anyway.â€