Attend the Public Hearing on October 20 – Mail or Fax Form
The Alcorn County Board of Supervisors are still planning to place a landfill on Forrest School Road in the Wenasoga Community. A public hearing will be held on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 10:00 am in the Board Room at the Chancery Building in Corinth. Please make plans to attend to let the supervisors know how damaging this landfill will be to our community.
Please print out this attachment (one copy for each 18 year old and/or registered voter in your household) and complete it, then FAX the completed form to Bobby Marolt, Alcorn County Chancery Clerk, the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors, and Paul Rhodes, Alcorn County Solid Waste Coordinator
at Fax: 662-286-7706 or E-mail: bmarolt@co.alcorn.ms.us
or mail to:
Bobby Marolt, Chancery Clerk
Alcorn County Board of Supervisors and
Paul Rhodes, Alcorn County Solid Waste Coordinator
P.O. Box 69
Corinth, Mississippi 38835
The fax may be busy. You may also have to dial a “1” first, depending on what area the call is originating you’re making the call from. Please do not give up, if you are unable to get through via fax then PLEASE take the time to scan and e-mail it, cut and paste the document into the body of the e-mail and e-mail it, or mail via USPS to the address listed above before Wednesday, October 15, 2008.
After you have done this PLEASE forward this e-mail and attachment to all Alcorn County residents on your e-mail list and ask them to complete it and fax or mail it to Bobby Marolt, Chancery Clerk, the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors, and Paul Rhodes as soon as possible!
Please mark your calendar and make every effort to attend the public hearing on the landfill issue on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 10:00 am at the Board Room in the Chancery Building at 500 Waldron Street in Corinth, MS.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO LIVES IN ALCORN COUNTY AND ASK THEM TO OPPOSE THE THIS LANDFILL SITE OR ANY PLACEMENT OF LANDFILLS NEAR HOMES!
To the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors
We, the residents of Alcorn County, oppose the future placement of a solid waste facility on Forrest School Road and in any area with the following limitations:
No new solid waste facility (landfill, rubbish site, land application site, outdoor processing facility or outdoor composting facility) should be located:
1) Within .5 (half) mile of any home, unless the homeowner consents
2) Within .5 (half) mile of a church, cemetery, school, licensed day-care center, licensed hospital or licensed nursing home
3) Such that the anticipated traffic along the primary route to the facility will not significantly increase the safety risk within a 5 (five) mile radius of the disposal area of the facility
We feel the hazards associated with placing new solid waste facilities under these conditions unnecessarily risk the health and safety of Alcorn County residents and request the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors stop pursuing the placement of a solid waste facility at the proposed Forrest School Road site or any other new location with the above restrictions.
“I request that this request be added to the minutes of the October 20, 2008 Public Hearing about the Solid Waste Management Plan..“
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Signature
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Printed Name
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Address
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City Zip Code
Please FAX the completed form to Paul Rhodes, Alcorn County Solid Waste Coordinator and Bobby Marolt, Alcorn County Chancery Clerk at Fax: 662-286-7706 or ‘cut and paste’ form and E-mail to: bmarolt@co.alcorn.ms.us or mail to:
Paul Rhodes, Alcorn County Solid Waste Coordinator
Bobby Marolt, Alcorn County Chancery Clerk
P.O. Box 69
Corinth, Mississippi 38835
Letter to the Editor – October, 2008
The Board of Supervisors are planning to pursue placing a landfill on Forrest School Road in the Wenasoga community and by law must hold a public hearing which will take place on October 20 at 10:00 am in the Board Room at the Chancery Building.
Twice community residents have tried to meet with the board and explain their concerns and the obvious drawbacks of this site. The citizens were shouted down and even though they were on the agenda and carried the names of over 700 concerned Alcorn County residents on a petition, they were denied the right to discuss the matter on the record with the board.
Once again, we implore the board to reconsider this site – not simply because we as a community don’t want it there. Admittedly, we don’t – but more importantly because it is plainly a bad decision. The roads simply will not handle this type of traffic. Chip-slagging a few miles of state-aid road will not remove the curves, hills, pot-holes, and narrowness of Henson-Purdy or Forrest School Road. Digging the grass away from the side of the road will not remove the railroad tracks or curves on Wenasoga or Holly Church Road. Adding a recycling center sounds good on paper, but it will also increase the amount of truck traffic going in and out of the site. Anyone who lives or drives by the Farmington landfill can describe the traffic going in and out, the mud from the entryway when it rains, and the shingles and other ‘rubbish’ that falls out in the road, causing flat tires and accidents.
Several months ago Ricky Newcomb said he estimated only 3-4 trucks/hour would be added to the roads, but a more realistic estimate indicates an extra 9,000 trucks/year would be going in and going out. Even averaged 3-4 trucks/hour traveling in and back out would mean you would meet large trucks almost every 5 minutes on roads that barely allow cars to pass each other. But in real life, truck traffic isn’t averaged and the trucks will at times come in droves, making narrow roads almost impassable. Placing the landfill in this location is a reckless disregard for the life of anyone who will drive those roads – whether they live near Wenasoga or if they’re driving to or from there to dump garbage.
Then, as if the road situation wasn’t bad enough, the site is in close proximity to homes. Unfortunately, legally a landfill can be placed 500 feet from someone’s home – that’s 500 feet from your house – they get to use your yard as a buffer zone, so your property line could be 250 feet from where they are burying garbage. Imagine, 500 feet from your backdoor you can see the garbage dump – and trust me, you can call it rubbish – but it’s still garbage. Imagine that you had to listen to the dozer or chipper going all day. Would you feel good letting your children play in the yard just a few feet away from a landfill? You can’t plant enough trees to make that feel safe.
Then, there’s the Faulkner cemetery located on the property. It is a beautiful, peaceful family cemetery where loved ones who have passed away are still buried and funerals are still held. Will the grieving families have to hold graveside services with dozers and grinding machines drowning out their prayers? Will the families have to plan private moments of mourning around landfill operating hours? There are no legal restrictions for how close a landfill can be to a cemetery. How long before the Faulkner cemetery becomes a mirror-image of the pauper’s cemetery at Farmington – a pitiful display of disrespect for those unfortunate to be die poor and at the mercy of county government for internment.
There are many other reasons why this is a bad location – geology, driving distance that will surely increase illegal dumping in the county, the costs to open and maintain it, the environmental hazards, childhood cancer…The list goes on and on. There are simply no good reasons to put it there.
Please attend the hearing on October 20 because this is not just a problem for eight or nine families – it is a problem for the whole county. Even if you don’t mind the location because you’re just thankful it’s not in your backyard, you should be concerned if you or a loved one has to travel on these roads to dump at this site. You should be concerned because your tax dollars will pay for the overwhelming costs associated with the start-up and liabilities associated with this site. And if you live or travel on Forrest School Road, Wenasoga Road, Henson-Purdy Road, or Holly Church Road, you will be directly affected by the traffic, debris, and property damage associated with this site.
Please attend the hearing on October 20. Your life could depend on it.
Lisha Hinton Hopper
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