City urged to renew battle against Farmersville
landfill
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| By
JOHN T. EBERTH , The Times Herald |
10/15/2003 |
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OLEAN —
Alderman Glenn Van Dixon is urging the city to renew its fight against
a proposed Farmersville landfill that would take in 3,000 tons of trash
each day.
The landfill would be one of the largest in the state. It was proposed
by Integrated Waste Systems 12 years ago. The state Department of
Environmental Conservation is preparing hearings for final public
review of the landfill’s environmental impact study.
Mr. Van Dixon, R-Ward 1, said the region already knows the impact of
the landfill. If its safety features fail and the landfill leaks, it
could contaminate the water Olean residents drink, he said.
“I want to see it stopped as quickly as possible,” Mr. Van Dixon said
of the landfill. “We need to renew interest in the landfill this far
downstream.”
In March of 1992 Golder Associates, an environmental consulting firm
hired by Olean, determined the landfill could contaminate Olean’s water
supply if it leaks.
Golder found that both ground water and surface water intermingle in
the Ischua Valley, the location of Farmersville and other Southern Tier
towns along Route 16.
If the landfill leaks and contaminates water in the valley, it could
find its way to Olean’s water supply. Water from the valley flows into
Olean Creek.
Olean opened a new $15-million water filtration plant along Olean Creek
last October.
Mr. Van Dixon said his concern about the landfill comes from his
first-hand experience. He retired from the city of Olean Department of
Public Works where he was a heavy-equipment operator. He said he saw
the damage a landfill can do as he hauled trash to area dump sites for
the city.
“Ischua, the airport landfill, the Farwell landfill, all you have to do
is visit any of them to see the devastation,” he said.
Mr. Van Dixon said many residents have forgotten about the Farmersville
landfill and he’d like to change that.
“It has been pushed to the wayside but eight or 10 years ago this was a
big issue,” Mr. Van Dixon said. “I think the city should be on board as
they were 10 years ago. I’d like to see them get reinvolved.”
The landfill planned by Integrated Waste Systems is designed to take 10
million tons of garbage during a 10-to 15-year span. Integrated Waste
applied to build the landfill off Route 98 in Farmersville in 1991.
Cattaraugus County has been fighting the landfill since it was proposed.
Ken Taft, deputy Department of Environmental Conservation regional
permit administrator, notified the county in a Sept. 15 letter that
Integrated Waste’s landfill application is “technically complete.”
That means a final public review of the landfill’s environmental impact
statement will begin soon.
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| ©The Times Herald, Olean, N.Y. 2003 |
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