Letter to the editor...

[Charle5170@aol.com]

Dear Editor:

All Latah County citizens should call or write their county commissioners now 
and voice opposition to building and marketing a regional landfill here.  
Here's why.

First, whenever you import other people's garbage you import other people's 
problems, both now and in the future.  On top of the extraordinary costs of 
site preparation, monitoring, operation, and maintenance there are the issues 
of increased traffic to and from the facility.  This results in increased 
infrastructure deterioration to our roads and bridges.

One cannot predict what substances we now use that will later create 
environmental problems in the future.  We may in fact be begging other cities 
around the Northwest to concentrate as yet undetermined hazardous waste in 
Latah County--and we'll own it.  

Of course this assumes the additional waste stream required for short-term 
profitability will be "clean," of current hazardous wastes.  What if it's 
not?  Hazardous waste that makes its way to Latah County by accident or 
criminal intent will nonetheless belong to the county--forever.

All landfills leak.  They leak over the top and through the bottom.  If they 
don't leak now, they will later and we will own the landfill, the leachate, 
fugitive wastes, and the problems they may cause.

Do we really want Latah County to be known as a home to a regional landfill?  
Isn't one of the primary reasons people live here the quality of life we now 
enjoy?  And if a regional landfill is such a good idea, why not tuck it right 
next to Moscow instead of dumping it on our rural neighbors?

Sure, we'll still generate solid waste and we'll have to deal with that.  
Maybe we'll even have to pay more.  But I'm happy to continue to have some 
other small-minded, shortsighted community take our waste into THEIR regional 
landfill.

Charlie Powell
Moscow, Idaho
882-1134