Man continues to fight state involving Winter Storm '09 debris

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Reporter - Todd Faulkner
Photojournalist - Chad Darnall

Story Created: Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:07 PM

Story Updated: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:09 PM

MARSHALL COUNTY, Ky. —  One local man continues a fight with the state of Kentucky to remove Winter Storm 09 debris off of his land.

Gerald Howell contracted with the state in 2010 to allow workers to dump debris from the storm on his land with a promise they'd later remove it and return the land to normal. 
 
Howell said the state isn't living up to its end of the bargain. 
 
"There's no way I can run my machinery over this," Howell said as he stepped over large pieces of debris where he usually farms soy beans. 
 
"Well, all I want them to do is come back and do what they said they'd do in the contract," he added.  
"You bring a $150,000 tractor and a $50,000 disc or something out here and start working this, you're going to bust blades and bust tires and what have you out here."
 
Now that the land sits empty Howell is losing money every year with no end in sight. 
 
"This is total disaster,"  Howell said.  "I'm completely getting the run around, they're just not wanting to negotiate at all." 06.06
 
Howell said he'll keep fighting to remove every piece of large debris from his property until it's all gone, even if that means filing a law suit against the state. 
 
He was one of hundreds of individuals who contracted with the state for those debris sites and stopped receiving money in 2010. 
 
A spokesperson with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said while he can't comment specifically on Howell's situation there are only a handful of people who continue to negotiate with state liaisons to address their concerns.