Grand Forks City Landfill
The City of Grand Forks intends to build a landfill in Section 13 of Rye Township. Click here to see a map. The city has recently obtained a permit from the North Dakota Department of Health. Click here for the city's complete landfill timeline.
The landfill issue is closely related to the extraterritorial zoning issue. The authority to control the zoning of private propery up to four miles away from the city limits has allowed the city to proceed with plans for this landfill despite protests from township residents. On May 27, 2008, Rye township residents vote 72 to 7 against the landfill.
UPDATES:
Health Effects of Landfills
Our research has turned up a lot of useful information, none of it good when it comes to landfills:
Ohio Bureau of Environmental Health - Landfill Gas
Childhood Cancer around Pottsville Landfill
National Cancer Institute: Radon and Cancer
Radon in North Dakota
Cancer Risks in Populations Living Near Landfill Sites in Great Britain
Bird Flu Virus Remains Infectious up to 600 Days in Municipal Landfills
Does Living on a Landfill Increase the Risk of Cancer?
Landfills are Dangerous
CNN - All About: Landfills
Draft Air Pollution Control Permit and Notice Available
The ND Department of Health has issued a draft Air Pollution Control permit and posted notice of a comment period and hearing.
A public comment period started on June 15 2009 and ends on July 15 2009. A public hearing will be held at the Alerus Center on July 9th at 6:30 PM. For notice details, click the link below:
Notice of Intent to Issue an Air Pollution Control Permit to Construct
Use the link below to view the draft permit:
Draft Air Pollution Control Permit to Construct
Air Pollution Control Permit Application Available
The proposed landfill will emit air pollutants. The City of Grand Forks has submitted a revised permit application. This application must be approved by the North Dakota Department of Health before the city may proceed with landfill construction.
Air Pollution Control Permit to Construct Application
The U.S. EPA Administrator has determined:
"...that municipal solid waste landfills cause, or contribute significantly to, air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health. The emissions of concern are non-methane organic compounds (NMOC) and methane. NMOC include volatile organic compounds (VOC), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), and odorous compounds."
"Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources
and Guidelines for Control of Existing Sources:
Municipal Solid Waste Landfills"
Federal Register 61(49):9905, March 12, 1996.
For the effects on human health of substances that are defined as hazardous by the 1990 amendments of the Clean Air Act, click the link below:
EPA Health Effects Notebook for Hazardous Air Pollutants
NDDH Issues Permit
The North Dakota Department of Health has issued a permit to the City of Grand Forks. Use the link below to view the permit, the public comments received, and the NDDH responses to the comments.
NDDH Grand Forks Landfill Documents
Northeast Regional Landfill Siting Study
Click here to view the document (requires Adobe Reader).
This 1992 report determined that a Grand Forks regional landfill was undesirable primarily due to "hydrogeological areas of concern such as geology, water table, ground and surface water." Proximity to the airport and nearby residents were also major factors in the disqualification of the Grand Forks site from further consideration.
Out of the seven potential landfill sites studied, Grand Forks ranked fifth, with a site in Nelson County being the only one found suitable.
Our arguments against siting a landfill in Rye township are summarized below.
Landfills Do Not Adequately Protect the Public and the Environment
The current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations allow landfills to be built that, by the EPA's own admission, do not adequately protect the long-term health of the public, groundwater resources, or the environment.
In 1991 the EPA put into effect the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). Subtitle D of this act pertains to the landfilling of municipal solid wastes. A Subtitle D landfill is a vast improvement over the previous "sanitary landfill" method, but it only provides at best a short-term solution to the problem of waste disposal.
G. Fred Lee & Associates, noted experts on landfills and environmental quality, have published a detailed report explaining the flaws inherent in Subtitle D landfills. Of particular note is the documented certainty that the liner system meant to contain the leachate (garbage juice) will eventually fail, contaminating water supplies. Click the link to load this document in a new window.
Flawed Technology of Subtitle D Landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste
Quotes from the above document below (in green):
"Subtitle D landfills have the potential to generate leachate (garbage juice) that will pollute groundwater with hazardous and deleterious chemicals that are a threat to human health and the environment for thousands of years. These landfills have the potential to generate landfill gas that will contain hazardous and obnoxious chemicals for a long period of time well beyond the current 30-year funded postclosure period."
Many residents of Rye Township rely on underground water sources for everyday use, including drinking water. This water requires only the most basic of treatments to make it perfectly suitable for home use. We should not jeopardize this valuable resource by building another landfill in the Red River Valley.
"The situation is that no political entity – from the federal administration in power through the federal Congress, state governors and legislatures, to county Boards of Supervisors – wants to be responsible for causing those who generate solid waste (the public) to pay the true cost of its management/disposal. It is estimated that solid waste disposal that is truly protective of public health and the environment would double to triple the cost of solid waste management. Instead of increasing everyone’s cost of solid waste management by 15 to 25 cents per person per day, the political entities are opting for short-term protection, and passing these costs on to future generations in terms of lost groundwater resources and adverse impacts on the health, welfare and interests of those in the vicinity of the landfills."
Though the alternatives to Subtitle D landfills may be more expensive, if we don't pay for proper waste management today, future generations will have to pay for our mistakes.
In 2004, when the City of Grand Forks attempted to site their new landfill in Turtle River township, G. Fred Lee & Associates testified to the inadequacy of Subtitle D landfills. Click the link below to view the document.
Undue Hardship for Nearby Residents
Grand Forks city officials claim that the value of property near the proposed site will not be adversely affected. Rye township residents that may soon find a landfill in their "back yard" beg to differ. Andecdotal evidence from residents and common sense indicate that proximity to the landfill will depress property values and make selling property much more difficult.
The noise, smell, and litter that are inevitably associated with a landfill constitute an unacceptable nuisance for residents. This is especially difficult for residents to accept when they have no way to exercise their rights as citizens and vote against the landfill or the city officials who are imposing it upon the township.
Unsuitable Land Conditions
The nature of the geology and the risk for severe overland flooding makes any site in the Red River Valley unsuitable for landfills of any type. There is no technology that can guarantee the contents of a landfill will not eventually contaminate the surrounding environment.
Wildlife Hazard to Airport Operations
“Constructing and operating a landfill so that it is not an attractant to gulls will be a difficult, if not impossible task.” - Timothy Pugh, USDA
Section 13 in Rye township is located immediately northeast of the sewage lagoons. The northeast corner of the lagoons is a visual reporting point for all University of North Dakota aircraft approaching the airport from the northeast. This means hundreds of small aircraft flying almost directly over the landfill every month, mostly at only 800 feet above ground level.
A collision with a bird can result in a fatal accident for any aircraft, especially for the small two and four-seat airplanes flown by UND. Any increase in bird activity caused by a landfill would pose an unacceptable increase in risk to aircraft operations.
A land use compatibility plan was prepared for the Grand Forks Regional Airport Authority in July 2006. The plan defines four "Compatibility Zones" around the airport. Within Zone D, the Airspace Protection Buffer Area, the plan states: "Land use development that may cause the attraction of birds to increase is also unacceptable." Section 13 of Rye Township, the proposed site of the new landfill, is entirely within Zone D. This plan was adopted by the Grand Forks Regional Airport Authority on July 20th, 2006.
The city has subsequently convinced the FAA that they can take adequate measures to avoid attracting birds so close to an airport. Such guarantees are unrealistic. Unlike most of the city's "Good Neighbor" promises (see below), failure to meet the promise of no additonal birds may result in someone's death. Is that a risk we are willing to take?
Resources and Information
Landfill Siting Summary and "Good Neighbor" Policy - A document presented by the City of Grand Forks in March of 2008. This document provides a summary of the city's landfill siting efforts and includes a "Good Neighbor" policy guide for the implementation of a landfill in Section 13 of Rye Township.
North Dakota Legislative Council
Minutes of the Advisory Commission On Intergovernmental Relations
This year the commission has been primarily focusing on extraterritorial zoning with the proposed Grand Forks landfill in Rye township often cited as an example of the issue. A Grand Forks Herald article about the 3/26/08 meeting can be read here.
Land Use Compatibility Plan for Grand Forks International Airport: This plan was prepared for the Grand Forks Regional Airport Authority in July 2006.
Wildlife Hazard Management at Airports: A manual that defines the scope of wildlife hazards and serves as a reference on legal authority, regulations, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of Wildlife Hazard Management Plans for airports.