For residents living near two rural properties in Clinton County, the trouble started with heavy equipment and that piercing beep of a backup horn. It soon turned into commercial grade fires and smoke. Neighbors say they've watched debris burn on land next to their homes for months, with no warning about what was being burned or why. They suffered until they traced the work back to Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative's own vegetation-management contractors.

What followed was a monthslong effort to get the co-op to act. Residents identified the source, formally notified PCEC's leadership, waited on a board meeting where they were given floor time to propose a fix, and were ultimately told, in writing, that the co-op would not change its policy. This week, residents are taking the fight statewide — to the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, the trade group representing PCEC and 46 other co-ops across the state.

The problem: PCEC does not oversee its own contractors.

The evidence:

• At least one PCEC vegetation contractor performing herbicide application on its right-of-way does not appear in Missouri's pesticide applicator licensing database — a straightforward RSMo Chapter 281 violation.

• Two of PCEC's contractors have documented, satellite-visible burn sites. One sits directly adjacent to occupied homes. Both have drawn neighbor complaints about smoke and disruption.

• Residents contend these burn sites aren't landowners disposing of their own agricultural waste — they're commercial vegetation-disposal operations, conducted by PCEC's paid contractors, on land classified "Agricultural with Homestead." Residents believe this raises clear zoning questions that the county has left unresolved for over a year.

• One of the contractors tied to the burning site also sits on the same county zoning board that would have to rule against him on any zoning question — a conflict PCEC has never acknowledged.

• PCEC's own guidelines require detailed documentation for herbicide application but impose none for off-site debris disposal — the exact activity in question.

What residents have asked PCEC to do:

• Amend Section 5 of the Vegetation Management Guidelines to prohibit open burning or incineration of right-of-way debris by contractors.

• Require contractors to document disposal location and method for every job — the same standard already applied to herbicide use under Section 3.3.3.

• Require contractor compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law for off-site disposal, verified by PCEC, not left to the contractor's own self-assessment.

To date, PCEC has declined all three. The PCEC CEO stating "I'm done with conversation"

To residents, that response spoke for itself. A cooperative exists to serve its members — but on this issue, members say PCEC has made clear where its priorities lie, PCEC is simply focused on the cheapest way to get rid of the debris.

NOT with the health of the people breathing the smoke,

NOT with their members quality of life,

NOT with the zoning concerns and road deterioration that residents first raised with county officials last year.

Rather than let the matter drop, residents renewed their demand, and this time, they didn't send it to PCEC alone. They forwarded their case to the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, the statewide trade association representing all 47 electric co-ops in Missouri.

Residents have asked AMEC to answer a simple question: does PCEC's contractor policy meet the standard the rest of Missouri's electric cooperatives follow — or has PCEC just never been held to one?

Clinton County Residents Say Their Electric Co-op Is Ignoring Contractors Who Burn Debris Near Their Homes

South County Squawker

September 21, 2026

Author: Charles Ford