Water Not Waste has just posted the following announcement on their website:
Ballot Signature Drive Success!!!!
Well, WE DID IT!!!!
It is official that we collected the required number of registered voter’s signatures and our question WILL be on the November 3rd ballot!
The question reads:
“Shall the City of Northampton expand the Northampton landfill over the Barnes Aquifer?”
THANK YOU to everyone who took time out of their lives and stood at the Transfer Station, First Church, Stop and Shop, River Valley Coop, and also those who walked door-to-door.
THANK YOU to Michael Bardsley for keeping a petition at his campaign headquarters for the citizens to sign.
THANK YOU to Jim’s Variety Store and to Hickory Dell Farm for keeping a petition at their place of business for the citizens to sign.
Now… we need to gear up for the campaign to educate the voters on this very important issue and to let our voices be heard by the City Council members before they vote on the Special Permit to expand the landfill over the Aquifer
See also:
Version of Landfill Ballot Question No. 2 as Proposed by Ward 3 City Councilor Bob Reckman (9/15/09)
Ordinance Committee Recommendations on Competing Heavy Public Use Ordinances
“An uphill slog: Fighting the landfill expansion is not going to be easy” – Mike Kirby
Video: Special Meeting of the Board of Public Works and the City Council, 8/21/09; Landfill Ballot Question No. 2
Northampton’s 34% recycling rate lags that of many nearby communities. By operating a landfill, the city has an incentive to tip more tons of waste, not reduce them… The claim that there will be “no new environmental risk for the city” seems scientifically impossible. As noted at Zero Waste America, “even the best liner and leachate collection system will ultimately fail due to natural deterioration.” It might be plausible to claim the environmental risk from landfill expansion is small, but it’s not zero.
Key Portions of the Solid Waste Management Alternatives Study
A critical element missing from the study is an estimate of the value of Barnes Aquifer water at risk from contamination due to landfill expansion. Neither the words “Barnes” nor “Aquifer” appear anywhere in the study.
Paradise City Forum: Landfill and Aquifer
Department of Public Works: Landfill Documents
Northampton Solid Waste Alternatives Google Group