Dear Editor:

I cannot at all understand how a supposedly intelligent, caring people can sit dumbly by while a greedy few prepare to dump millions of tons of garbage and waste where it will poison the major water supply of the whole area.

Tragic incidents from the past remind us of the necessity to pay attention and to speak out to prevent future calamities. The old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure has never been more true.

In the 1950’s, the officials of Niagara Falls, NY, knew that chemical waste had been dumped in Love Canal, but insisted on buying the property anyway and built a school on top of the landfill. A mixture of low-income and single family residences were built adjacent to the landfill site. In the 1970’s, a local mother, Lois Gibbs, began to wonder if her children’s recurring health problems were connected to their exposure to chemical waste. City officials were brought to investigate the area, but they did not act to solve the problem. Residents suffered a myriad of health problems. A survey conducted by the Love Canal Homeowners Association found that 56% of the children born in the area of Love Canal from 1974-1978 had a birth defect. In 1979, the EPA announced the result of blood tests that showed high white blood cell counts, a precursor to leukemia, and chromosome damage in Love Canal residents. Finally, Gibbs and other residents were able to get enough attention so that in May of 1980 President Carter declared a state of emergency and the EPA began to take action, and “clean-up” was begun. On March 18, 2004, the New York Times reported, …”The “cleanup” …took 21 years and cost close to $400 million… ” On August 11, 2008, ABC NEWS reported, “More than 6000 residents were affected….Today, three decades after 900 families were evacuated, the children of Love Canal are coping with a lethal legacy that they say has spilled across generations: birth defects, cancers and auto-immune disorders.”

The Love Canal site was originally about 16 acres on which approximately 22000 tons of chemicals were dumped. West Point Lake covers twenty-six thousand (26,000) acres and has a shore line of more than 500 miles. If contaminated with dangerous chemicals or radioactive waste, how could it possibly be cleaned up? Turkey Run Landfill is to be “monitored “chiefly by its private owners or their employees who will have no way of knowing what goes into the landfill. (Even their host agreement requires only that two out of a possible 150 daily truck loads have their covers turned back for “visual inspection”) Can it be reasonably expected that, even if he knows bad stuff is going in, a paid worker is going to report his boss for violations? Too, it is significant that a “host agreement” may be renegotiated by going back to the very people who made the decisions that a literal mountain of garbage is going to improve our way of life.

Landfills leak. The EPA said, “even the best liner and leachate collection system will ultimately fail due to natural deterioration…” On November 14, 2008, the Chief of the Land Protection Branch of the Georgia EPD reported, “Sedimentation and leachate leaving landfills causes contamination of ground and surface water. [In Georgia] 309 active and closed landfills conduct ground water monitoring. 180 of the sites have reported violations.” How can any reasonable person believe that 35 million cubic yards of compacted trash can be contained without leaking out or spilling over?

West Point Lake annually contributes millions of dollars to the local economy. Three million visits are made to the Lake each year. Turkey Run Landfill is a imminent threat to the lake. Why take a chance on seriously polluting such a valuable resource? More importantly, why take the risk of disastrous health damage to present and future generations?

Landfills produce gases harmful to the environment. In 2008, EPD reports that of 325 active and closed solid waste landfills in Georgia which are conducting methane monitoring, “54 have exceedances of methane beyond the property boundary. “

In the 1700’s the Irish philosopher Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” A lot of “good “men (and women) in this area are doing nothing while our part of the world is in danger of being trashed and our water, air and general environment being degraded and poisoned. City, county , state and federal officials are not looking out for local residents; they are “cooperating” with each other and with big business to use tax money to help build the infrastructure to support a mega-trash company as it hauls in and dumps garbage from elsewhere. Elected officials have a sworn responsibility to look out for the public; at the same time, ordinary citizens have a responsibility to stay informed, to speak out, not to ignore what is so obviously a danger to every single individual man, woman, and child as well as future generations.

Mildred S. Burdette

Hogansville