“County drops landfill expansion in favor of incinerator”:

“The Marion County Commission will scrap expansion of the Baseline Landfill and pursue construction of a waste-to-energy incinerator facility if they stick to a plan approved Tuesday.

“The plan passed 4-0, with Chairman Charlie Stone not present Tuesday."

Shocker...

"County Commissioner Barbara Fitos said a waste-to-energy plant always has been her preferred option. Commissioners Jim Payton and Stan McClain voted to support the plan, but did not give ringing endorsements.

And commissioners might face the Catch-22 of solid waste in Marion. Residents who live near Baseline organized in opposition to the expansion plans, saying they had groundwater pollution concerns.

Now, there could be opposition over proposed increases in the annual residential solid waste assessment. The waste-to-energy plant's price tag is estimated at $100 million to $180 million, depending on size. That cost, combined with the cost of shipping trash through the transfer station, would mean large increases in the assessment.”

Here we go again. It is the age-old long-term solution that costs money v. the short-term “payoff” of saying “nevermind. Let’s go ahead and pollute the water if it saves me a few bucks.” 

These citizens stood upon the high pedestal and protested expanding the giant pile of our waste known as "Mount Marion" in their backyard based on environmental concerns, which I can completely understand. It’s a dumb, short-sighted solution to just pile up the garbage until we can’t anymore and then try to hope for a different solution.

But when it comes a real solution that may hit us in the pocketbook, do we give up and become the generation who could have done something but took the money and ran? If so, I think it is shameful.

So how much is our community’s natural quality worth to you? Respond here on this blog and let me know.

(Quotes of story by Chris Curry, photos by Bruce Ackerman and Jannet Walsh)