Landfills
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Landfills Posted on Oct 18 2007 at 11:10pm by We are a group of parents and grand parents working to protect our children. We have formed a group called Parents Protecting Children because the State of Ohio and our local Board of Health are not. We felt there was a need to create the group to protect our families from dangers that are predicted to result from operation of a Construction & Demolition Debris (C&DD) landfill planned to be constructed in Morrow County, Ohio. There is usually opposition to C&DD landfills; however, we believe this landfill is more dangerous than most due to the site’s soil makeup and proximity to underground water sources. You may not be aware, as we originally were not, of the many harmful toxins that are by-products of C&DD landfill debris.
Dr. Fred G. Lee, a Harvard PhD, who is an expert in landfill siting has written an affidavit stating that this landfill will leach toxins into underground waters within a few months of operation and not be detected in time to prevent leaching by planned monitoring wells. The findings in this affidavit are supported by several scientists and geologists from The Ohio State University. Armed with this information, and concern about the environmental impact and resulting health hazards to our families, we have met with many Ohio legislators, the Ohio EPA Director and his staff, the local Board of Health, County Commissioners, and Ohio’s Governor Strickland’s legislative liaison. We have written thousands of letters to the Governor, the Ohio EPA Director, and the Ohio Attorney General asking them to look into and address the issues and ensure the safety of this landfill before permitting it to be constructed.
After nine months of continuous effort no one has stepped up to prevent this disaster but many assure us they will help clean up once it occurs. This is in part due to the extremely weak C&DD landfill laws in the State of Ohio. No one is willing to step up to do what is right for the citizens. The entire focus of Ohio regarding this issue is to monitor and clean up rather than prevent. Unfortunately the reports from Dr. Lee who state the planned monitoring will not be sufficient to detect the toxins before they leach into the water is being ignored and cleanup will be at tax payer expense.
We are looking for someone to be a public and media advocate for us to urge Ohio’s Governor to take action by issuing a moratorium to protect the environment, the health of our families and prevent this disaster before it occurs. On our web site, www.parentsprotectingchildren.us is an informational PowerPoint presentation providing more details and contact information for our group. Please take a couple minutes to review it and consider how you will help us.
