Minutes - 20081117 - Transfer Station

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not to rush into a decision and to look into a waste to energy facility. He suggested working with adjacent counties on this. Bonnie Hauser was speaking on behalf of Orange County Voice. She said that these facilities are sited near highways and industrial centers. She asked that the County Commissioners take 90 days to consider other options. She suggested the following steps: that the County Commissioners search for a five to ten-acre site that is adjacent to an industrial area and the highway. She suggested sites such as the abandoned truck stop, the industrial center, and the Touchstone Energy Center on NC 86. Secondly, she suggested that the County Commissioners consider a waste to energy facility for the long-term. Experts have said that it would take five years to get this type of facility up and running, but it could take as little as three years. Third, she suggested contracting with a commercial vendor like Waste Industries to handle at least part of the trash until whatever option that is pursued is up and running. Virginia Leslie lives one half mile from NC 54 and Orange Grove Road. She said that we are in a global crisis —financial, environmental, and conflicts based largely on the dependency on oil. Al Gore and President-Elect Obama have called for 100% clean energy in ten years. Every decision made either works toward that goal or away from it. She spoke about the impact of emissions and the dependency on gasoline on the environment. She spoke in support of a waste to energy facility. She asked that the County increase education for waste reduction, composting, and increased recycling. She asked the County Commissioners to delay the decision for 90 days. Ralph Warren spoke about the rank of the criteria. He said that there is a misapplication of the environmental justice assignment. He spoke about the impacts of water and refuse leaving the site. He said that no water should leave the transfer site. Peggy Dodson spoke on behalf of her parents and family about their land, site #779. This land has been in their family for over 100 years. This has been a tree farm and is a wetland area. She said that the family would work toward their grandmother's request to keep land in their family. She said that to put a transfer station on this site does not make environmental sense because it jeopardizes the safety of everyone that travels NC 54 with all of the trucks traveling. She said that transferring waste for a period of time seems foolish and wasteful when everyone needs to be thinking more about conserving resources. The groundwater quality is a big concern. She wants to keep her land safe for wildlife and for future generations. Dan Eddleman lives in Bingham Township and has served on the Orange County Planning Board and Board of Adjustment from December 1986 to October 1991. He spoke about the cost impact of a transfer station in distant Bingham Township. He made reference to a Greensboro Solid Waste Management Study that was conducted in 2001. He presented some materials regarding this. He said that out-of-county disposal, using a transfer station in this proposed area, is three times as expensive as a landfill. He suggested siting the transfer station in an industrial zone and protecting the residential areas from an adverse impact. Sue Dayton is with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and lives in Saxapahaw. She said that she has heard some talk about the waste to energy issue and she has been sending the idea around on an email listserv. Someone emailed her today from the listsery stating that waste to energy facilities need waste and that they are a disincentive to a sustainable future that must look at ways to decrease the waste stream and not increase it. She cautioned the County Commissioners strongly to look at the cumulative impacts of the sludge spraying activities. She asked the County Commissioners to look at other sites not in the rural areas. She encouraged the public to visit the table that she had outside with information on sewage sludge.