Yager talks landfill, nuclear waste, data centers, and more
State senator speaks at monthly Scott County Chamber of Commerce meeting
ONEIDA | State Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, addressed the proposed Roberta Phase II landfill and several other topics in an appearance before members of the Scott County Chamber of Commerce at the Scott County Senior Center in Oneida on Thursday.
Yager, who has steadfastly opposed the construction of a second landfill in Scott County, applauded the recent developments that have derailed the proposed landfill, though he said “the beast is still breathing” and vowed efforts to stop it will continue.
Specifically, Yager applauded a decision by the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) to deny an Aquatic Resources Alteration Permit (ARAP) to Roberta Phase II, saying he had been confident all along that would be the case.
“There was little discretion that TDEC had with the landfill permit,” Yager said. “The EPA sets the guidelines on that. But the ARAP is a different issue. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop because I felt confident the commissioner would deny that permit. He has done that.”
That echoes comments Yager made to the Independent Herald months ago, when he expressed confidence that TDEC would not approve the project.
The state agency issued a permit for a 24-acre landfill in 2010. However, construction on that project never began. The permit was recently sold to Atlanta- and Chattanooga-area developers, who moved forward with the purchase of 700 acres of property and applied for re-certification of the permit, along with a nearby rail transfer station. Because more than one year had elapsed, TDEC re-certification was needed, and ARAP laws that have been updated since 2010 applied. In rejecting the re-certification process last month, TDEC said that any future efforts to move forward with the landfill will be subject to local approval through the Jackson Law, where it would almost certainly be doomed to fail.
Yager said Thursday that the two options developers have remaining are to resubmit their application with changes, or to litigate TDEC’s decision.
Legislation filed by Yager and state Rep. Kelly Keisling, R-Byrdstown, this past session sought to permanently stop the proposed landfill by classifying the Big South Fork River as a scenic river under a 1960s-era state law and add extra stipulations that would not allow another landfill anywhere in Scott County. That bill sailed through the Senate but narrowly failed in a House committee.
Yager pledged to continue efforts to pass that bill in 2027. He said Scott Countians owe a “thank you” to Keisling for his work on the bill in the House of Representatives, and added that he and Keisling had believed the votes were in place to pass it. “One of the fellas who told us he was going to vote yes, we lost him in committee and lost by one vote,” Yager said. He added that some of the language in the bill may change before it is reintroduced this winter, but it will remain substantially the same.
Other topics addressed by Yager at Thursday’s meeting included state and federal funding for rural health care, nuclear waste, and data centers.
On health care: Yager said that Tennessee will receive $1 billion over a five-year period from the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill” for rural health care transformation. Some of that money, he said, could be utilized by Big South Fork Medical Center, Mountain People’s Health Councils Inc., or by Roane State Community College for its education.
On nuclear: Yager spoke positively about the nuclear renaissance that is taking place in Tennessee. Nuclear industrial development has been a buzzing topic lately, and Yager said that communities throughout East Tennessee stand to benefit. He said that Morgan County recently received a grand for nuclear site development, and encouraged Scott County to file its own grant application — which the Industrial Development Board’s Stacey Swann said has already happened.
In response to a question about the storage of nuclear waste and the possibility that the 700-acre landfill property might be repurposed for such a use, Yager said that nuclear storage is a possibility he supports — but it doesn’t look like people might think it does.
Yager explained that the days of disposing barrels of nuclear waste that have to be stored forever are gone. The new era, he said, involves recycling nuclear waste so that it can be used again. Tennessee has applied for a federal permit to do just that, though it has not received word on whether the permit will be issued. He said the Tennessee Association of County Mayors unanimously endorsed the project, signaling its potential to benefit communities across the state.
Yager said the bulk of this activity will occur in Oak Ridge, which is the state’s hub of nuclear industry, but added that the supply pipeline could easily extend to Scott County, supporting a local business that might spring up.
The key, Yager said, is appropriate messaging so that residents are educated on what nuclear storage does — and does not — consist of.
On data centers: Yager said he is not aware of any current interest to build a data center in Scott County, but said that he has strong reservations about data centers for two reasons. One, he said, involves the high usage of electricity, which can drive up costs for other electric customers. Another, he added, is the release of heated water, saying he questions what that will do to the lifespan of streams.