Any potential punishment won’t be handed out against the operator of the environmental landfill that has been burning near Moody for more than a month until the underground inferno is extinguished, the state’s environmental agency said Thursday.

Environmental Landfill, Inc.’s facility on Annie Lee Road in St. Clair County, near the Birmingham suburbs of Moody and Trussville, has been on fire for more than a month, with the blaze occurring mostly underground.

Alabama Department of Environmental Management Director Lance LeFleur said in a statement Thursday his agency has “connected the [St. Clair County] [C]ommission with private companies that have expertise in dealing with underground fires,” adding that the commission “has primary responsibility for dealing with the fire.”

“Once the fire is out, ADEM will take appropriate enforcement actions against the private operator of the site. Such actions could involve air quality impacts and open burning violations,” the statement went on to say.

“Even though ADEM does not has primary responsibility for the fire, the department is working with all the local and state parties involved,” LeFleur added. “The smoke from this fire is rightly concerning for residents in and around Moody, St. Clair County and even neighboring Jefferson County. We take those concerns and the health and well-being of residents very seriously. The most important thing now is to figure out how to extinguish the fire. ADEM will continue to consult with St. Clair officials and provide them whatever assistance we can to accomplish that goal.”

The landfill is not regulated by ADEM because it is only authorized to accept “green waste,” things like storm debris, leaves and limbs and vegetative material.

But tires and other materials have been found at the landfill amid the underground fire, and ADEM is investigating the possibility of illegal dumping at the site, an agency spokesperson earlier told AL.com.

ADEM said it consulted with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the fire.

“Unless hazardous materials or regulated wastes are involved, neither the EPA nor ADEM have the authority to take action at this time, the EPA says,” ADEM’s statement said. “The operation of the site is governed solely by local authority.”