Bullitt County landfill slapped with violation after defying state's order to shut down

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There is more trouble at the landfill where tons of thick grey sludge leaked into a Bullitt County's Blue Lick Creek.

The state ordered landfill operator Virgil Warren to shut down the site on Brooks Hill Road. But on Tuesday afternoon, state investigators learned that the property owner defied that order and was back in operation once again.

"The notice of violation, as it was originally issued, still stands, and there should be no dumping at this time," said Robin Hartman, spokesperson for the Energy and Environment Cabinet.

In many ways Warren told on himself by placing a "Dump Open" sign at the front of his property line. It caught the attention of several neighbors and passers-by still simmering from the 205,000 gallons of concrete slurry that flowed into Blue Lick Creek from a hillside behind Warren's property.

The sludge came from a $4 million state-funded repair project on Polar Level Road in Louisville.

Warren -- the dump's owner -- as well as Bluegrass Contracting and a Pennsylvania-based hauler were all issued violations by Kentucky's Division of Water and Waste Management and currently face thousands in fines.

Thick grey sludge found in Bullitt County's Blue Lick Creek

The violation ordered them to, "immediately cease transport, disposal, and beneficial reuse of all solid waste at the Brooks Hill Road site."

So neighbors like Bobby Hensley wanted to know why a sign appeared outside Warren's property on Monday with the words, "Dump Open."

"I didn't know what to think," Hensley said. "He was pulling out and he got up with his sign and strung it up and drove off and I was like, 'Well...'"

State officials say nothing has changed and the cease-and-desist order is still in place.

WDRB captured aerial views of the landfill, both after the sludge was found in March, and on Tuesday. A side-by-side comparison shows the results of the cleanup, with no more trash over the hillside.