Landfill flackery

Aside from an outright typo that says the four new mega-landfills would add 126 tons of capacity, this morning’s story about the landfill lobbying gets a few things wrong. The story doesn’t even mention that the Brunswick County landfill would be shredded auto “fluff” not garbage or that the county is lobbying against that dump. The whole end of the story is very much the WMX party line unchallenged.

The counties have already given preliminary approval to the landfill facilities. Greg Peverall, a consultant for Waste Management, said the permitting process in North Carolina is “a very thorough, complicated process that involves all interested parties.”

Wrong. Brunswick is fighting this like mad. The process shuts out citizens at a very early point. Very few counties have the kind of zoning rules and resources necessary for a thorough review and solid public input. (audio of Brunswick official at  Senate hearing)

“These counties have had ample public input,” Peverall said. “They clearly understand the overall story of environmental integrity of modern landfills.”

Ask the people in Brunswick or Camden or neighboring areas if they had ample input. Here we go with the modern landfill argument.

Over the past 13 years, companies have replaced about 130 unlined landfills with about 40 modern landfills each with a 4- to 6-foot liner to prevent any leaking, according to Waste Management. That liner contains two feet of specialized clay, a dense layer of plastic and a piping system to properly dispose of wet waste.

This paragraph really should have quoted the lobbyist. Note the unattributed use of the word “modern”—a pet term of Mr. Peverall and the industry. Modern=good, trustworthy, up-to-date. (audio of Peverall in a Senate hearing.)

“We’ve already made the quantum leap in the environmental integrity of North Carolina landfills,” Peverall said.

Because they had to. The industry and most counties and towns were forced to “modernize” their landfills because they were threats to public health. Good of them to claim credit. 

North Carolina residents dispose of about 11 million tons of solid waste each year, according to estimates from the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the state has a remaining capacity of about 19 years.

If it does nothing about recycling or other waste reduction efforts.

The four proposed sites would add space for about 126 tons of trash.

Uh, I think ya missed a few zeroes.