By Staff
State should not be nation's dump
Would you vote to allow our beautiful state to become the nation's largest dump?
That is what might happen if someone like you, does not speak out against this horrible thought. Please take the time to read this article.
A group of investors have applied for a permit to create the nation's largest landfill right here in Alabama. It will be called Conecuh Woods, and will be located in Conecuh County. The current largest landfill in the nation is in Puente Hills, in Whittier, Calif. It accepts approximately 13,200 tons a day at its 550 acres. If allowed a permit, Conecuh Woods will consist of 5,115 acres of land near Repton. It will have the ability to dispose of 25,000 tons a day. Due to its convenient location and access to the interstate, railroad, and waterway it will receive waste from around the entire nation.
Investors have said that only household garbage will end up at this proposed landfill but, in fact, they mean municipal solid waste. MSW includes: plastics, rubber, leather, food and yard waste, organic compounds, ferrous metals, toxic metals, batteries, lead, mercury, cleaning agents, fuel additives, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, asbestos materials, rat and pest control chemicals, transmission fluid and so much more. Conecuh Woods would be able to receive at least 100 tons of hazardous waste each day. There will be no one to monitor the Conecuh Woods' potentially toxic gasses and chemicals. Just remember that Escambia County was not aware that 1,400 truck loads of mercury waste would come to the landfill at Timberland, but the investors knew.
There are many ways that the dump in Conecuh County could affect our health. It is a probability that the liner of the landfill will leak, either at completion of construction or after many years of damage and wear. Fires, floods, hurricanes and tornados will also cause enormous health and environmental effects. Surveys taken across the United States have confirmed that certain untreated chemicals, if released either by water or air, cause increases of cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, chemical burns, bone and muscle disorders, eye, respiratory and intestinal infections. This not only affects waste management workers, but people who live, work and play in the neighboring areas. In other words, your current family members and future generations.
Some groups will say that landfills are not dangerous and do not pose a big health risk, but the truth is that, &#8220