I am the parent of a Wilson Elementary school student. Not unlike many of you, my first reaction (albeit a foolish one) to this 'landfill business' was an indifferent one. My thoughts surrounding the whole affair led me to a false sense of the problem...that our kids school is next to a stinky garbage dump...and sometimes garbage stinks. It wasn't until looking at the history of air quality violations and perusing literature regarding the apparent toxicity of landfill gasses that I became increasingly concerned. I have been involved with this situation since the winter of 08-09 school year, attending meetings organized by our community, meetings organized by the landfill and meeting organized by concerned teachers. For every meeting I have attended, I have come away less and less reassured for my childs health with concern to long-term exposure to components of landfill gas - many of which are known carcinogens. When I bring this concern up to related agencies, I am told that my child is in no immediate danger or that there is no immediate health risk. Even the DEP was careful to note in some of their reports that their studies were not conclusive as to assure the lack of health risks pertaining to long-term exposure to these chemicals and compounds which were detected. Even when the landfill isn't in compliance, they are afforded every opportunity to become compliant and have failed to do so. Many well-meaning persons have reported on the 'odor violations' that exist without making reference to the most pertinent issue at hand...what that smell consists of. I recently heard a rather prudent analogy from a clever trusted friend that goes something like this..."If you accidentally stuck your hand in dog poop, would you be most concerned with the smell or with the contents of the aforementioned poop. Imagine the health risks involved with ignoring the presence of pathogens and health risks associated with dog poop." Now apply that to this situation. This isn't about the smell…in spite of the fact that when the dump can be smelled off-site of its present location, they ARE in violation of air quality regulations. One of the leading members of the landfill's team tried to reassure me that the levels of benzene (only 1 of the detected carcinogoenous chemicals at the school site) were the same as you would find in shoe polish. His statement did not reassure me when I was cognizant of the fact that I would never let me child sniff shoe polish on a daily basis for 6 hours a day. I would most certainly expect that their would be adverse health effects from doing so. You can get more information regarding the health risks associated with landfill gas from the US Department of Health and Human Services at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/landfill/html/appc.html#2 and benzene in particular at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts3.html#bookmark07. Please note that benzene is just one example of the slew of dangerous compounds detected on the school property.
More recently, we were also told the smells are due to the, “Airport leaking jet fuel.” This is just ludicrous! The dump has been smelling for years but there is always an excuse whether it be fog, barometric pressure, wind, and now the airport!
I would like to take this time to appeal to all of you to please give this email a second thought and consider meeting with some of us. I contacted a group called Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future at the start of the current year and asked them for their advice on the situation. They have corresponded with me numerous times since then and were initially inclined to advise us to give the landfill owners a chance to work with enforcement agencies. They have been following the progress (or lack thereof) on the part of the landfill owners and agencies involved and are now advising that we seek a legal solution. I have since been in contact with a law firm that they recommended and am expecting a visit from the attorneys on August 4th. The details of the meeting will be forthcoming as soon as I get an idea as to the attendance. I will have to hope that some of you will be in attendance so as to become better informed as to your legal rights concerning the risks that your children face. If anyone has any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to ask. I will forward the information. I am confident that this is the right thing to do. I would like to add that one of the most common things I hear from parents who are not involved is that they never smelled anything when they picked up the kids at carpool. I can attest to the fact that the incidences of daytime odor were not nearly at potent as the evening occasions. I was at Wilson many evenings throughout the school year for extracurricular activities. One evening the smell was so potent, it didn't even smell like garbage. It reminded me of sulfur or some other chemical. Upon opening the door of the school to go out to our car, we were aghast at the level of intensity. Had I not known that there was a dump next to my daughters school, I would have most likely related the smell to something much more sinister than just stinky garbage. It is just such a smell I am being told by experts that is emitted by Landfill gas, which is extremely dangerous in any amount. The largest levels amount to most immediately a risk of explosion, the smaller levels relating to long-term exposure risks. I have not desire to fabricate or exaggerate such claims and would much rather get on with my own private life and responsibilities as a full time mom, university student and part-time day care provider.
As I type this, I am reminded of the meeting in which one of the DEP reps informed us that the enforcement agencies are limited as to the amounts they are allowed to fine the dump for each violation. I will tell you that the dump was cited for a violation unrelated to air quality in which they allowed trucks to dump into their site without weighing them. Under the law, they must weigh each truckload. They chose instead to risk paying the fine, because it was to their advantage to do so. The fine (although substantial to us) was a mere fraction of the monies they made from allowing the dumping to continue. I imagine the same holds true for the air quality fines they receive. To them, it's just a drop in the bucket. I guess 'money talks' is more effective if it is substantial enough. That depends on all of you and how many people we get involved. Please help rid our community of this dangerous health hazard. Let’s clean up our air, not cover it up!