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Waxings >> The Environment >> 1.3 Million Lbs. of PCBs? We'll Take it!
(Message started by: torporchair on May 31st, 2009, 4:00pm)

Title: 1.3 Million Lbs. of PCBs? We'll Take it!
Post by torporchair on May 31st, 2009, 4:00pm
1.3 Million Pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)? We'll Take it!

Most people want nothing at all to do with PCBs!

Mayor Matt White of Eunice, New Mexico, sees it differently. He is eager to have the PCBs, which will be dredged out of the Hudson River, buried in the local landfill. The "local landfill" just over the state line in Texas, but Mayor White has determined that the sludge deal would bring a lot of money to the local economy. I am sure he is correct.

There is also a Uranium Enrichment plant being built just outside of Eunice, and this brings much-needed jobs as well as the same tension of environmental worries vs. economic need.

Back to the subject of the PCBs contained in the Hudson River Sludge, I see no indication that the landfill will or won't be lined with a double liner and leachate alarm etc. According to the New York Times, the landfill is owned by Harold C. Simmons, "a Dallas billionaire who was a large campaign contributor to former President George W. Bush and Gov. Rick Perry. (He also helped finance the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against Senator John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race and the advertisements linking President Obama to William Ayers in 2008.)"

There is bound to be a lot of debate about the landfill's proximity to the huge Ogallala aquifer.

If the deal goes through, it would appear to be an indication of just how repugnant most people find this sludge that it must be trucked from New York to New Mexico to find a home.

Title: Re: 1.3 Million Lbs. of PCBs? We'll Take it!
Post by mitakeet on May 31st, 2009, 7:12pm
It is actually best to leave the d**n mud where it is as the act of digging it is sure to cause more pollution than leaving it buried as is.  Then, the idea of trucking it across country just to burry it again is even dumber.  While all modern landfills are lined (actually, I believe they are double lined), the lining doesn't last forever (though long, long past the lives of any politicians) and eventually they will start to leak.  It boggles my mind that people eschew an immediate solution to our problems (incineration) in favor of a ticking time bomb that is as assured as atomic decay to cause serious problems in the future.  



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