David E. Sumner

Anderson resident

What Ralph Reed can’t get through his head is that the only people in Madison County who support his dump are his small group of financial backers. And they’re too ashamed of what they’re doing to admit who they are. I’ve only read two letters to the editor in 10 years that support the dump and one of them came from Ralph Reed himself.  Meanwhile, hundreds of people have written to protest the dump. If Mr. Reed feels that everybody is against him, he isn’t paranoid because they are. The reason he’s angry about the new law requiring a new review for landfills zoned more than two decades ago is he knows it will never be approved. Here is a sampling of statements made by various groups and individuals over the past 20 years:

“This is a landfill from the last generation. This landfill does not meet today’s laws. It met yesterday’s laws.” (Gov. Frank O’Bannon, quoted in The Herald Bulletin, April 14, 1998)

“If leachate is allowed to pollute Killbuck Creek, the effect on facilities downstream could be monumental. The city drinking water system would be affected. The fact that a leachate collection system is included in the plans for the landfill is an open admission that a leachate problem will exist (Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management, April 12, 1983, report)

“The County Council being the financial core of government in Madison County express our concern and opposition to an operating permit for the Mallard Lake Landfill. The financial responsibility could hold the citizens of this county ransom in the event an environmental disaster would occur on this site. The cleanup costs could put this county in bankruptcy.” (Madison County Council, May 1, 1990)

“Conflicting geological conditions of the proposed landfill site are not clear as to the aquifers that lie beneath its surface or how these aquifers affect Killbuck Creek and the adjoining wetlands that supply a major source of water for the city of Anderson.” (Anderson City Council, June 14, 1990)

“It is the opinion of our professional staff that the geologic and hydrologic conditions of the proposed Mallard Lake site have severe limitations for the development of sanitary landfill facilities.” (Land Research Associates, Dr. Alan Samuelson and Dr. Patrick Sullivan, April 12, 1983)

“Problems with this area are: the soil has less clay, which is needed to protect ground water. Wetlands are more prevalent [than in other regions of the county] and there is a school nearby.” (East Central Indiana Solid Waste District study by Dr. Edwin Squiers, October 1995)

“The proposed landfill is considered incompatible with aircraft operations at Anderson Municipal Airport. The FAA cannot concur with the construction and operation of the facility because the potential for bird hazards associated with waste disposal operations in such close proximity to the airport.” (Federal Aviation Administration, Nov. 21, 1991 letter) FAA regulations oppose landfill sites less than six miles from an airport because of the risk of birdstrikes, a danger illustrated by the recent New York accident caused by a flock of geese that brought down an Airbus A320.

The geological problem with the Mallard Lake site is that it lies directly above Madison County’s largest aquifer. The only place the aquifer meets surface water is at Killbuck Creek -- less than 100 feet from the landfill site, according to the East Central Indiana Solid Waste District study. Every landfill expert in the country says the worst possible place to build a landfill is on rich, porous soil near a body of water, and the ECISWD study said that the Mallard Lake site is the worst possible site in this county.

Ralph Reed wrote, “All of the alleged reasons raised in opposition to the landfill have been established as either false or nonexistent.” So he is now claiming that statements from a former governor, the City Council, the County Council, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the East Central Indiana Solid Waste District, and the Federal Aviation Administration are all false.  

When our Democrat and Republican legislators cooperated last year to pass Engrossed Senate Bill 43, they did not act in isolation. They represented all of us.