JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster announced on Wednesday that he obtained a temporary restraining order against a Butler Country trash hauling business after it allegedly violated the state's waste management law.
Koster's office filed a lawsuit against Nichols Disposal LLC and Michael Nichols, the company's owner, for allegedly engaging in the illegal burial of trash they collected. Nichols, who operates a trash hauling business that collects solid waste from businesses and households, also allegedly left trash in piles and containers spread across a tract of land he owns, in violation of Missouri's Solid Waste Management Law.
Piled up trash can result in contaminated groundwater.
"My office is charged with protecting Missouri's environment," Koster said. "We will take action when individuals violate our laws and pollute the groundwater."
Koster sought and obtained a temporary restraining order that would prohibit Nichols from transporting, collecting, disposing of, burying or burning solid waste until the office's application for a preliminary injunction could be heard by the court. The hearing is set for February 5 in Butler County Circuit Court.
Koster's lawsuit also seeks the payment of court costs and a civil penalty against Nichols and his company of up to $1,000 per day for alleged violations of the law.
Mo. AG seeks civil penalties against trash hauler
