
{"id":1686,"date":"2008-01-18T08:01:38","date_gmt":"2008-01-18T16:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2008\/01\/18\/garbage-is-a-communal-responsibility\/"},"modified":"2008-01-21T08:00:29","modified_gmt":"2008-01-21T16:00:29","slug":"garbage-is-a-communal-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2008\/01\/18\/garbage-is-a-communal-responsibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Garbage is a communal responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>By Taylor Sisk<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This story is the eigth in a series that examines issues related to environmental justice and to the fight of the Rogers and Eubanks roads community to be relieved of what they allege to be an undue burden. To read the stories in this series and for other resources, go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/rogers-road\">www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/rogers-road<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe the closer garbage is disposed of to where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s produced, the more responsible you are for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Carrboro Board of Alderman Jacquie Gist. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcOut of sight, out of mind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is not a good thing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Out of sight is where our garbage would go if the Orange County Board of Commissioners proceeds with its decision to place a solid-waste transfer station in the county. The commission has contracted with a private firm to conduct a search for a transfer station site, from which our waste would be sent out of county \u00e2\u20ac\u201c destination as yet unknown. <!--more--><br \/>\nAs Orange County solid waste management director Gayle Wilson told <em>The Citizen<\/em> in an earlier installment of this series, given that a previous board of commissioners adopted a resolution stating that there would not be another municipal waste facility located in Orange County, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have not discussed, nor to my knowledge do we intend to, the location of a new municipal solid-waste landfill in the county.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>So, given these circumstances, is Gist willing to say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stop the transfer station search; our garbage must stay right here\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? And if so, where is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153here\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n<p>Gist says that to simply say we should have no transfer station would be, at this juncture, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a really feel-good answer to give.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It would not be a categorically responsible answer for me to give.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Not, that is, without suggesting what, alternatively, can be done in the short term.<\/p>\n<p>And there she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stumped.<\/p>\n<p><strong> Our own business<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many local elected officials disagree with the decision made by a previous county commission to place a solid-waste transfer station in Orange County.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do believe that the decision to ship garbage out of county was a mistake,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d County Commissioner Mike Nelson wrote in an email response to The Citizen. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since it takes 10 to 15 years to site a new landfill, and since our current landfill is set to fill up completely in three years, we have no choice right now but to build a transfer station and ship our garbage out.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wish past decisions had been made differently.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Newly elected Carrboro Board of Alderman Lydia Lavelle agrees.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do not think Orange County should have made the long-ago decision to have a waste transfer station,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but it is too late now to start a landfill search for our immediate needs (2009 and beyond).<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re basically out of time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Commissioner Alice Gordon. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Even finding a site for a transfer station before the landfill fills up is going to be a challenge.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She says she sees no alternative at present to a transfer station.<\/p>\n<p>Lavelle suggests a stepped approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153[W]hile the county commissioners are searching for another site for the transfer station (or soon thereafter),\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it might make sense for them to start searching for a site for a new landfill, because the transfer station is a short-term solution to this problem. If another location for a landfill is identified now, neighbors that surround that location will have many years notice that it is coming. Perhaps the commissioners could work out an arrangement for a regional landfill with neighboring counties.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>As have other elected officials, Lavelle suggests that operating a transfer station is environmentally unfriendly, given the fuel expended in transport, and increasingly expensive, given the rising cost of that fuel.<\/p>\n<p>Lavelle further believes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s irresponsible: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We should take care of our own trash.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Most agree that taking care of our own waste is the ideal scenario. But, says County Commissioner Moses Carey, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a comprehensive solid waste management plan that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approved by all the partners who use the landfill. Until that comprehensive plan changes, we need to pursue [the transfer station] option.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Rewriting the comprehensive plan would be, says Carey, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a decision that will be made by everyone, not just the county commissioners. The county commissioners are the managers; that means we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re implementing the comprehensive plan that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been approved by everyone else.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Any ideas, any assistance \u00e2\u20ac\u201d properties, anything \u00e2\u20ac\u201d we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll welcome whatever we can get.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong> Anywhere but Eubanks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Regardless, says Gist, the transfer station \u00e2\u20ac\u0153doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t belong on Eubanks Road.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d For 35 years, the Rogers-Eubanks community has been home to the Orange County Landfill. This past March that community, led by the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism, successfully lobbied the board of commissioners to reconsider its decision to locate the transfer station on Eubanks Road \u00e2\u20ac\u201c citing environmental justice considerations \u00e2\u20ac\u201c though Eubanks does remain under consideration as a potential site.<\/p>\n<p>Lavelle agrees with Gist, saying the Eubanks Road community has \u00e2\u20ac\u0153done its share for our community with regard to trash. Even though a transfer station is a different animal than a landfill, it still brings with it large garbage trucks and increased traffic, conditions the neighbors of the current landfill have lived with for many years. Other locations should be seriously and thoroughly considered for the transfer station rather than the Eubanks Road site.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Gordon says that whether Eubanks should continue to be considered is a decision that should be made before getting too far into the search process, and that she expected the commission to discuss it at its Jan. 16 work session (see below). \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There should be an environmental justice component [to the search criteria],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That should weigh heavily on our decision.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong> Investing in reduction<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\nSo how do we move forward toward more environmentally sound waste-disposal practices and policies?<\/p>\n<p>It should first be noted that, relatively speaking, we do pretty well here in Orange County.<\/p>\n<p>According to Blair Pollock, a planner with the Orange County Solid Waste Management Department, the state will soon announce that the county has achieved a 47.7 percent waste-reduction rate for fiscal year 2006-07. Pollack says this figure is expressed in terms of waste reduction per capita compared to a 1991-92 benchmark. He says that Orange County consistently has among the best waste-reduction rates in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Orange County is one of the leaders in the state in terms of reducing volume and recycling,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Carey. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our reduction efforts have been successful because elected officials have promoted it and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve put ordinances in place that require merchants and others to take stuff out of the stream and do something other than put it in the landfill.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Curbside recycling has been a big success, he says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Curbside recycling is real important and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve invested a lot of money in that; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not cheap. But that has helped us achieve some of our goals of reducing the volume and taken stuff out of the stream. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also extended the life of our landfill beyond what we were originally led to believe, by quite a bit. We feel that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been very successful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Our county ordinances have, in fact, brought very favorable returns \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the 3R fee (Waste Reduction, Reuse and Recycling), for example, by which improved properties in Orange County are charged for some of the recycling services offered by the county. And our Commercial Glass Recycling Program, which, according to the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s website, diverts about 40 tons of glass, metal and plastic per month from the landfill.<\/p>\n<p>The county conducts several recovery programs at the landfill, including clean wood and scrap metal.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson believes, however, that we could go further still in what we might ban from a landfill.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have raised the idea of banning items from our landfill that are currently collected for recycling in Orange County,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These would include things like glass and plastic bottles, newspapers, magazines, etc. Orange has the highest recycling rates of any county in the state. But even with our success, we are still landfilling too much waste that could be recycled.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>On the individual level, says Gist, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It all gets down to: we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to stop producing so much garbage,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d citing in particular excessive packaging from grocery store and fast-food restaurant purchases. She also points out that when you buy a tire, you get taxed for its disposal. She believes there should be more items for which that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our community has so many environmentally conscious citizens that I am certain the collective \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 will continue to work on this issue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lavelle says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe public education campaigns are a huge component of this, starting with our children and continuing with the students that come here for their college years.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need to shore up our already successful recycling program so that it is in place and accessible for everyone, at home and at work. We need to educate about composting, and the need for everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong> Time to look anew<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We still have a lot of work to do,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Carey.<\/p>\n<p>He recalls, back in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc90s, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a collective look by folks from Chapel Hill and Durham at alternatives to landfilling.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We looked at incineration and determined that the risks associated with pollution that affected people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives were greater than we wanted to experience\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We also looked at trying to regionalize an option because the cost of getting any of the alternatives was so great \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the upfront costs, construction and implementation. And we looked at getting multiple jurisdictions to participate, and it was still very expensive.<\/p>\n<p>But, he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It probably is time to take another look at those alternatives to landfilling, because technology has changed in 15 years. We just haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Gordon agrees. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time again, she says, to look into \u00e2\u20ac\u0153environmentally friendly alternatives.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Gist says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ideally we [would] have one or two smaller sites and do everything possible to reduce everything we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eliminate.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>She believes that a county landfill should be placed in the southern part of the county, where the majority of our waste is being generated.<\/p>\n<p>But she recognizes that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no ideal site \u00e2\u20ac\u201d no place that wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t raise objections.<\/p>\n<p><strong>  On an ongoing basis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Omega Wilson of Mebane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s West End Revitalization Association reminds us, the shaping of public policy is a participatory sport.<\/p>\n<p>You elect officials in the hope that they will pursue your best interests. But you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t then just turn away.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When you send your kid to school,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wilson says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say to the principal and teachers, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWell, just take care of them. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to PTA. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not worrying about their lunch money.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to think about protecting your community and infrastructure the same way. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something you have to monitor on an ongoing basis.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Philosophically speaking,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Alice Gordon, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we should be handling our own waste.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But what does that mean?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she asks. If it stays in the community, in whose backyard? And can we see past tomorrow, next year, the next generation?<\/p>\n<p>As we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve explored throughout this series, the democratic process works when folks refuse to allow policy to go unquestioned. Charges of environmental injustice were leveled in Orange County. Our county commissioners listened. Whether the Rogers-Eubanks community will be asked to continue to house a waste facility will probably soon be determined. Beyond that decision, questions are being raised about how we can, and must, act as a community in dealing with our solid waste.<\/p>\n<p>We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re generating the waste collectively, and only collectively will we find the right solutions. There are no \u00e2\u20ac\u0153really feel-good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d answers \u00e2\u20ac\u201d tough ones only, and critical.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Taylor Sisk Staff Writer This story is the eigth in a series that examines issues related to environmental justice and to the fight of the Rogers and Eubanks roads community to be relieved of what they allege to be an undue burden. To read the stories in this series and for other resources, go&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}