Attorney General's News Release

March 22, 2005

Attorney General Nixon files suit against Webster County man over piles of waste shingles in Fordland

Marshfield, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon has filed a lawsuit in Webster County Circuit Court against a Seymour man who has accumulated piles of waste roofing shingles on property he owns near Fordland and has failed to clean up the site.

The suit names Russ Gehrke, owner of a shingle recycling operation known as Future Tek Inc. The business operated from 1994 and 2002, with facilities in Springfield, Seymour and Fordland. Fordland is the last remaining location.

In February 2000, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) told Future Tek to stop accumulating shingles and to use or dispose of those stockpiled at the company's three locations. The business failed to remove shingles stored at the Fordland site, leading to violation notices by DNR in February and August of 2002.

In the years since, attempts by Nixon's office and DNR to negotiate an agreement with Gehrke to clean up the Fordland site have been unsuccessful.

Nixon is asking the court to order Gehrke to clean up the site, and for civil penalties for violation of Missouri's Solid Waste Management Law. He is also asking that the state be reimbursed for costs associated with the legal action.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818