The City of Knoxville is no longer pursuing an emergency order to shut down the Fort Loudon Waste and Recycling Center after investigating claims that it had broken an order not to bring new waste into the facility.
Most of the facility had been destroyed in a massive fire on May 1, and it was ordered by the city to not bring in new waste to the site because there was no place to properly conduct business.
Several members of the Oakwood Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association called in complaints, saying they saw the facility bringing in new materials to the site.
The city initially believed it to be true, saying its codes enforcement team saw dumpsters being unloaded from trucks with what appeared to be new material.
The city said it would seek an emergency order at a May 31 Public Office hearing to repair of demolish the facility over the alleged code violation. However, the city is now backing down after the law department and representatives who are handling the complaints sat down with the owner.
According to the city, they determined the new materials were actually old materials that had been removed from the site shortly after the fire broke out.
The owner explained that once the fire was extinguished, they material was returned to the site -- which they said explains why there was new material on the ground on top of charred debris.
The city said it has concluded that there is no new business being conducted at the site, and will no longer be bringing it up at the May 31 hearing.