Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Thursday, November 01, 2007
Landfill issue tarnishes co-op
The “good neighbor” character of the Dairyland Power Cooperative plant at Genoa, Wis., will be forever tarnished if the mammoth landfill proposed for Harmony Township in Vernon County is approved.
The proposed landfill is designed to hold more than 11 million cubic yards of contaminated coal fly ash. Dairyland’s two proposed landfill sites are both located along Hwy. 56 on some of the highest land in Vernon County, to be perched like a giant bowl above the regional aquifer and the Bad Axe River, a tributary to the Mississippi.
Either landfill site will result in the loss of more than a square mile of prime farmland, displace 11 or more families, and destroy a community of neighbors.
At two public meetings held on Oct. 6 and Oct. 17, Dairyland’s presentation of the proposed plans demonstrated this landfill has a high potential for a future catastrophic failure of the proposed water containment facility — water that accumulates “in the bowl” through precipitation must be contained as it is contaminated with mercury, sulfur and other undesirable constituents — under rainfall conditions seen this past August.
Moreover, the Dairyland spokesperson, Mr. Brian Rude, has begun each meeting with an intimidating discussion that condemnation of the needed land under the right of eminent domain can be imposed if landowners do not wish to relinquish their land.
It is unfortunate that Dairyland is willing to sacrifice so many precious resources for an immediate “most cost effective” way to dispose of their toxic waste. To Dairyland Power, please be a leader in recycling of contaminated coal fly ash, not in creating new Super Fund sites of the future!
All stories copyright 2000 - 2006 La Crosse Tribune and other attributed sources.