Monofill proposal puts profits ahead of people

I’d like to help clarify a few things in regard to CMS seeking a monofill permit for a location near homes just south of Palmer. Over and over the few loud voices supporting the permit say of the neighbors that oppose it, “they’re just NIMBYs, anti development, too emotional, not fact-based.”

It seems they’ve classified us as snobs and completely dismissed the valid concerns and research of several hundred affected families and industry experts alike. The public needs to know that there is much more going on than the small sound bites they have heard, which mostly originate from CMS employees or people who reside way outside the proposed monofill area.

I have not met any individuals opposing the dump that are anti-development or anti-recycling, or whose main concern is losing their pleasant view, or who are solely concerned about their property values — although they have every reason and right to include those concerns in the long list.

The overriding greatest concern is for the health and lives of our families, followed only second by protection of our livelihoods and property.

The land under the proposed dump was excavated too deeply by the previous gravel company, on the borough’s watch. It has never been, and it appears not able to be, successfully repaired. The underlying aquifer was pierced, and it feeds the wells of hundreds of homes and drains into the surrounding lakes and wetlands.

The protective top layer of silt on the land was removed, leaving somewhere between 2 and 10 feet of very porous gravel between the surface of the land and the aquifer, and the water table is a “moving target.” Expert hydrology assessments were sought by both the borough and CMS.

CMS hydrologists based their findings on CMS-supplied samples and incorrect and incomplete climate and local plant/water characteristic information. For example, they consider Palmer “semi arid” and assumed steady precipitation rates.

The borough’s hydrologist conducted a more thorough and accurate assessment, correctly identifying the climate as “transitional between maritime and continental” and considered specific plant/water information to this area, including the varying precipitation and evaporation rates.

These are not small differences; they are crucial.

Based on faulty information, CMS-hired hydrologists claim that there is low risk for contamination, other than high levels of sulfate and manganese that will yellow teeth and skin and cause a foul odor and taste to our water.

The borough-hired hydrologist, using more thorough and accurate data, has concluded that there is a high risk for water contamination from the variety of toxins that will be dumped and leached through the gravel and from the instability of the land.

And who does the borough base its recommendation upon? The CMS hydrologists only. The borough seems to have ignored the two extensive reports provided by their own hydrologist. When their own hydrologist came to speak before the planning commission at the last hearing, the commission chairman appeared confused and did not recognize the hydrologist’s name and even asked him who had hired him and where his reports could be found. The reports were in the chairman’s comprehensive information packet and are publicly available as well.

There are numerous other concerns:

•CMS wants to accept regulated asbestos at the dump, with no regular third party oversight, being dependent upon customers to identify and properly contain and haul their debris, and in an area known for its extremely high winds.

•CMS has an established record of disregard for this area and resident health when it was previously caught and fined for illegal dumping on the site.

•CMS has already begun to argue for more lax requirements then those presented by the borough as part of the recommended conditions for approval.

•CMS refuses to acknowledge its dump products as either “toxic” or “hazardous”, even though ground construction and demolition debris is known to contain such chemicals as arsenic, lead, formaldehyde, benzene, and more.

The bottom line is that CMS is disregarding our health and well-being and putting their profits above our lives, and this is an extremely poor choice of a location for an unlined monofill. I ask the public to please attend the planning commission meeting at 6 p.m., Dec. 15 in borough chambers to help us give a rallied voice of reason to the borough.

Sarah Wolcoff lives in Palmer.