Landfill Fighters of Morrow County ask for help in getting C&DD moratorium

Thursday, February 11, 2010

By MISSY HARRIS
Inquirer Reporter
mharris@galioninquirer.com

Landfill Fighters of Morrow County (LFMC) are initiating an order to stop the pollution and contamination of Construction & Demolition Debris (C&DD) landfills all over Ohio.

Even though this is a statewide effort, the group insists that it is particularly important for our local citizens to get involved in this issue because of the proposed, currently licensed, 14-story-high C&DD landfill located across from the AMVETS on St. Rt. 61 between Galion and Mt. Gilead.

The LFMC has an affadavit from Dr. Fred Lee, a world-renowned environmental engineer, stating that the Morrow County site is not suitable for a C&DD landfill due to fractured clay soil which allows contaminants to filter horizontally, thus risking ground water contamination within a four-mile radius, and stream and lake contamination within a five-mile radius. The potentially affected area includes Galion’s drinking water reservoirs as well as Candlewood Lake. All private water wells within a four-mile radius of the landfill are also at risk for contamination. Despite the expert opinion of Dr. Lee, though, citizen efforts put forth for nearly seven years have failed to stop the development of this landfill.

Now, new scientific information has come to light: A June 2009 study released by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) found C&DD landfills to be “equally” hazardous to public health as the current Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills, even though MSW landfills are built to more stringent construction standards than the current C&DD regulations. In short, Ohio now has proof that C&DD facilities are producing toxic leachate and that they are affecting the health and safety of Ohioans.

Sandy Petty, LFMC coordinator, says the group swung into action “the day we found out about the Ohio EPA studies, in November 2009.” Petty elaborates on the group’s perspective: “We now have documented, legitimate concerns for contamination of the aquifer directly under the site. The liner is not sufficient, [and] the monitoring wells will not be able to provide accurate information due to the hydrological issues of the site — and that’s just to start with.

“After bringing the reports to the attention of the Morrow County Board of Health, we directed our issues and concerns directly to the OEPA. It was ‘suggested’ that we would need to increase our efforts from just the Morrow County ‘proposed’ C&DD landfill facility to a statewide effort, in order to achieve change. So, we are.

“The OEPA met with their Division of Solid Waste and their lawyers and stated that it would be good to have a statewide moratorium [on further C&DD landfill development] due to their findings. They then met with the governor and his lawyers.” According to the LFMC, the goal of the proposed moratorium is to “halt additional construction and expansion of C&DD facilities until the Ohio Revised Code and Administrative Rules can be altered in order to provide protection from the reported dangers of C&DD landfill toxins to underground bodies of water.”

While the LFMC awaits response from the governor, Petty says, “I have made sure that the EPA knows that we are ‘supporting’ their advisory action to the governor.” Petty has also been in contact and cooperation with the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC).

The following organizations support a statewide moratorium: The OEPA; The OEC; Ohioans for Health, Environment, and Justice (OHEJ); Buckeye Environmental Network; GUARD; Citizens Against Lordstown Landfills (CALL); Friends of Wetlands and Rocky River Watershed Council; Land Lovers Against Neighborhood Dumps (LLAND); Green Environmental Coalition (GEC); Communities United For Action; and Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.

The LFMC is also petitioning the Ohio Association of Health Commissioners to “get on board.” OHEJ and the OEC have posted letters on their websites, and other citizen action groups have posted notices of the moratorium effort on their websites.

On the OEC website (www.theoec.org), the “take action” link directs visitors to a letter they can “sign” that will be sent to the governor’s office.

Petty shared that the group has already collected around 300 citizen sign-ons, and email and postal mailings sent by the group number in the hundreds and continue to be sent. Area farmers, watershed groups and just over 60 citizen groups and environmental organizations across the state have been contacted.

The LFMC asks that all concerned citizens add their names to the LFMC’s letter to the governor “…requesting his executive action until the state legislature officially acts in response to the serious OEPA conclusive reports.”

To read the letter or print it out, visit: http://www.ohioej.org/action.htm

Petty urges everyone to call or email by Feb. 12 if they would like to have their names added to the original sign-on letter (instead of mailing it themselves). Interested persons may email her at sandycwl597@hotmail.com or call 419-946-1812 and leave a message with a list of family and friends who support the C&DD moratorium.

If you miss the Feb. 12 deadline, though, you may still express your concern to the governor by mailing your own copy of the LFMC sign-on letter to the governor by the end of Feb.

Petty sums up: 
”Not a great deal is needed from you to make much-needed change that can affect the lives of thousands of Ohioans. Let our voices be heard. Do something!”