[Announce] Landfill Secret Meeting We Must Attend!
James Travers
jatrav at yahoo.com
Wed Jul 11 02:45:20 MDT 2007
I had been without power for the 25 hrs prior to 8:40 this evening, So I've been trying to catch up with responding to the 60 emails in my inbox. Using a generator for back up power intermittently, I attempted to get some responses out yesterday and earlier today but everytime I was in the process of composing my messages, my generator died and I lost all my work, some with many attachments.
So here are my comments to Sheree's message, which can be found below this. I will comment on Bert's voluminous email in a later mailing. But I will say this now regarding Bert's comment about the possibility of a tear in the landfill liner causing the leaking of toxic leachate into the aquifer below: whether due to the abuse they suffer from the bulldozers working overhead or from the reaction from a combination of powerful chemicals -
All landfill liners eventually leak.
I always refer to the landfill gas emissions as just that: landfill gas emissions which have been proven (at other landfills) to be hazardous to human health. Oftentimes I refer to the offensive odors "Aerosolized Toxic Chemicals"
Landfill gas emissions are toxic emissions in one some form or another, but as Tom Ellis has pointed out to me, although this may be suspected to be true, referring to the offensive odor in this way may be a premature designation on my part insofor as it has not yet been proven to be so, or if it has been proven, this information has not been publicly revealed. Perhaps there will be such a relevation made at the meeting Wednesday evening.
In August 2006, I commented on the "Odors" being emitted by the landfill in a posting on the "Democracy In Albany" blog, in which I warned of the danger posed by the gas that was being emitted by the landfill that was causing the "odor" :
"The Stinking Dump is poisoning us.
How many of you folks have asked yourselves
"what is it exactly that is causing the Dump to stink so badly?"
Is it merely vegetation or meat rotting away that causes this incredibly offensive odor or is it something more? Well, it is both, and much more, too. Every time you can smell the odor emanating from the dump, you are inhaling much more than just a bad smell. You are inhaling noxious fumes. That's right, you're being poisoned by the toxic aerosolized chemicals being given off by the Dump every time you're smelling its odor. The smell derives not only from the decaying vegetation, but from the mixture of chemicals landfilled there, which then combine with each other to create even more toxic compounds. So, when someone refers to the "Smell" in the future, please correct them by letting them know that the "Smell" is really aerosolized toxic chemicals which are poisoning them. The flare does not burn at high enough temperatures to destroy the toxins and in fact helps to convert some of them into even more dangerous chemical compounds. Its
heat helps to further their dispersal over an even more vast an area."
http://www.democracyinalbany.com/story/2006/8/15/34331/2489
------------------ ------------------ -------------------
Among other things, a few of the components of the toxic gas that is endlessly being emitted by the Rapp Road Landfill I'm sure will be found to be Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and another will be Hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
From one my more recent postings on the "Democracy In Albany" blog you will find below the comment I made in response to someone who suggested opening their car windows to get a whiff of the "odor" being emitted from the landfill:
"Do Not Roll Your Window Down!
Most folks can detect the noxious odor without rolling down their windows.
As I said, these are toxic emissions. I'll give the definition of just one of the many.
The one most responsible for "the odor".
Remember your chemistry? H2SO4 is sulfuric acid.
It's one of the components of "Acid Rain" that's killing our Adirondack lakes and trees.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2): "a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor...
...It is corrosive to organic materials and dissolves in water to form sulfurous acid, H2SO3. ...Sulfur dioxide is a dangerous air pollutant because of its corrosive properties; it irritates the eyes, nose, and lungs."
Hmm... No mention of rotten eggs there. OK, then one more: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S): "a colorless, extremely poisonous gas that has a very disagreeable odor, much like that of rotten eggs..." These are only two of the many toxins being aerosolized by the landfill. Other heavy metals such as mercury and lead are also contained in landfill emissions. Rachel's Environmental Health Weekly, a publication of the Environmental Research Foundation has a thorough library on landfills and the dangers they pose.
Here's a link: http://www.rachel.org/bulletin/index.cfm?St=2
For a cursory understanding of the dangers posed by landfills I would suggest the following Rachel's articles, some of which are older but the information they relate is still valid. #617- Landfills Are Dangerous, September 24, 1998
#316- New Evidence That All Landfills Leak, December 16, 1992
#556- WMI: A Culture of Fraud and Dishonesty, July 24, 1997
#268- EPA's New Landfill Rules Protect Only The Largest Garbage Haulers, 01-15-92
#29- Recycling Is Hampered; It Can't Compete With Low-Cost Landfills, June 15, 1987
#314- Cement And Kiln Dust Contain Dioxins, December 02, 1992
#192- Incinerator Ash -- Part 4: Dump Now, Let The Children Pay Later, August 01, 1990 The last two articles I've included because the landfill uses "clinker", waste kiln dust, as a ground cover. More on this toxic ground cover can be found here: http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/multisys2.get_list_tri?tri_fac_id=12143BLCRCROUTE Scroll down the page to "Chemicals Released to the Land Surface". This also is what's being placed atop our aquifer."
http://www.democracyinalbany.com/story/2007/2/21/587/68230
To all wishing to file oral and written complaints I would suggest that you should not only call the landfill's complaint hotline, which, by the way, is no longer to be found anywhere on the City's new website, but you should also write and call the following people:
William J, Clarke
Regional Permit Administrator,
NYSDEC REG. 4.
DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS
1130 N. Westcott Rd.,
Schenectady, New York 12306
Phone 518-357-2069
FAX 518-357-2460
r4dep at gw.dec.state.ny.us
--------------
DGS Commissioner Willard Bruce can be contacted at:
One Conners Blvd., Albany, NY 12204
(518) 432-1144; (518) 427-7480; (518) 434-CITY Fax: (518) 427-7499
Monday - Friday, 7am - 5pm
--------------
Albany Mayor Gerald D. Jennings
City Hall Room 102, 24 Eagle Street, Albany, NY 12207
Tel: (518) 434-5100, Fax: (518) 434-5013
-------------
Complaints Problems or Questions:
Rapp Road Landfill:
questions at capitalregionlandfill.com
Individuals with concerns about landfill operations may contact the City of Albany Landfill at 869-3651 Monday through Friday, between 7:00am to 3:00pm.
-------------
I don't have a contact for the County or State Departments of Health, but they should also be informed whenever a complaint is being filed.
Lastly, I would remind all to:
Remember this: phone calls can take on a Libby-like history - "I don't remember getting any phone call".
Letters and emails can't get "Lost".
See you tomorrow evening at the stinking meeting.
Everyone should bring their surgical or dust masks!
Jim Travers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheree <sheree at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
Suggestion: steer the discussion by refusing to label the emissions "odors"
as if the SMELL is the problem, and the proof that there IS a problem. What
you don't smell can also hurt you... all toxins do not smell.
Allowing discussion to refer to emissions as "odors" can couch it as an
esthetic issue, not a health issue.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bert"
To: "Lynne Jackson"
Cc:
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 12:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Announce] Landfill Secret Meeting We Must Attend!
Questions Questions Questions
Upcoming meeting Wednesday July 11th
With Fred Lebrun and Mayor Leak's discussion of a significant
reduction in odor complaints and the TU's mention that odor would have
been an obstacle, I believe the City will be using this to full
advantage in their landfill expansion permit. While we know why the
City finally working on the odor issue, we do not know how well this
will work for the future or what gases are released. The residents
and businesses and others affected on so many occasions for years to
the point of loss of business, use of property and sickness, and the
unknown affect the "toxic" fumes on health, the reduction of
complaints should not be a reason to stop any suit. I believe it is
all the more reason to explore the health issue via a survey as well
as pushing for a independent research of illness, cancer rates etc in
the community around the landfill and for those workers affected
greatly. This should include City workers.
I am not sure what Wednesday's meeting is about but assume it is
results of an air and hydrologic survey. I heard that this
un-advertised meeting intends to not cover the expansion of the
landfill though this does not make any sense.
Questions I wonder are:
Air – Qualifications and history of the sampling firm and testing
laboratory?
Sampling methods, number of events, before/after the plastic
cover?
Air testing under the cover, weather etc?
If the liner has a break, what might be released and how
toxic would it be?
Also, was the testing firm aware that many have been
sickened, sent home from work, children could not go out and
play, residents were woken from their sleep and that fumes often
resulted in Fire Dept and Utility Gas Co calls?
Is the testing firm aware that the number of events and
complaints are likely in
the thousands?
Were there any claims by businesses, residents, workers
for loss time or other claims as a result of the persistent and
frequent odor?
Were there any claims by the Fire Dept or Utility Co for
the many "false" calls?
Would there be an explanation of whether any prior testing
of toxic fumes and
what the results were?
Would there be any explanation or discussion of whether
fumes that were strong enough to sicken people inside their homes
or businesses would be toxic?
Is the firm aware of any studies of fumes sickening people
from other landfills?
Are they testing the cover materials (also wastes) and are
they aware what has been used in the past (different depending on
who (industries) paid the City to take industrial wastes as a cover.
Water – Qualifications and history of the sampling firm and testing
laboratory.
Was the firm aware of the principal aquifer and the nearby
6 Mile Water Works (Rensselaer Lake), whose water rights were
leased in 2002 by the Albany
Water Board from the City for $3.7 million for an
emergency water supply?
That there is a contaminated plume moving from the landfill from
the older unlined section of the landfill?
Or that there was a leak in a section of the lined area
that leaked required repair?
Is another Aquifer Variance required? And although
"permitted" by DEC with extensive discussion in the last landfill
expansion lawsuit, and although DEC's own regulations do not
allow landfills or expansions over a principal aquifer. While
not allowed, the issue of the Aquifer is not a done deal though the
City and DEC will likely point to the testing, lining and other
technologies, besides this one of the main points arguing for a
Variance was no use as a public water supply. The timing of the
last suit (lost) was the same year as the purchase of
the water rights – so it was known but not shared with DEC
or others. Is there a
legal issue here?
Waste- DEC indicated it would not have allowed the permit without
serious plans for alternate sites and solid waste management by the
ANWSERS community. The expansion was permitted due to "hardship" and
to allow time for development of another site.
With Coeymans being unacceptable, what are the efforts for other
sites, how significant was/is the research, how much was spent?
The hardship issue does not cover the intentional filling of the
landfill with wastes from outside the Answers community for increased
profit by the City and not shared with the Answers community. The
City calls all the shots and the Mayor himself agreed to lower
tipping fees. I read somewhere in the last application that the
tonnage double from about 500 tons a day to 1000. Is this the amount
of outside the Answers community? Not even to mention the known
facts about the Pine Bush Preserve or the sacrifice of this public
natural resource for $$$$.
Where is the data on how much is accepted from outside the
Answers wasteshed?
What is the waste and how is it verified? Including the DEC
requirement that
waste must come from NYS municipalities with recyling and
other programs? Is this being checked and by whom?
How does the requirement by DEC for Solid Waste Management
(reduction/recycling) by the Answers community related by the fact
that all so much waste is brought is ($$$) nullifying the hard work
for the reduction of waste when all the requirement does is make more
space to be sold to the "lowest" bidder? The action of which is
filling the "special hardship" permit for the last expansion faster.
There is no sharing of profit, the City's actions are not in the best
interest of the Answers community. The deals must be examined as well
as the data of outside sources.
Scoping – Environmental Review
The issue of outside waste is not mentioned. In fact the
Project description of
the Draft Scope for the landfill expansion refers to the
need for the ANSWERS community. This is a significant omission.
The Answers community is
negatively affected by the acceptance of outside waste for
profit.
There is also no mention of the long-term lease of nearby
6 Mile Water Works (Rensselaer Lake) under Water nor is it
mentioned whether another Variance is necessary for the Principal
Aquifer.
Bert
On 7/7/07, Lynne Jackson wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> Date: Wednesday, July 11
> Time: 6:00
> When we need to arrive: We should all arrive at 5:45
> Location: Polish American Center
>
>
> Clough Harbor, the City of Albany's landfill consultant, has called a
> meeting on Wednesday, July 11 at 6:00 pm.
>
> I believe that Clough Harbor is going to explain all the things they
> have been doing to control the odors emanating from the landfill.
>
> We ALL MUST attend this meeting!
>
> We cannot let the City hold secret meetings!
>
> Please, everyone email be back to let me know whether or not you can
> attend. I want to have a good idea on how many of us can be there.
> Claire, can you bring shirts to sell? Can a couple of people
> volunteer to collect names and addresses for our mailing list? I
> will bring clip boards.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Lynne Jackson
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Announce at nodumpinthepinebush.org
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