Today's Amherst Bulletin half-page political adMonday's Amherst Town Meeting is shaping up to be an ultra-modern shootout at the OK corral where combatants carry Star Trek phasers instead of six shooters.
NIMBYs fire off a half-page ad selectively quoting from a NIMBY website that selectively cherry picks facts from oceans of Department of Environmental Protection required data, but still doesn't endorse the expensive sky-is-falling ad; and the town quickly (and cheaply) responds with a full spread of photon torpedoes via the main page of the official town website, normally a place where people go to figure out how to pay parking tickets.
While the old unlined landfill these folks bought expensive homes around certainly does produce lots of leachate--especially when it rains--that fluid is not exactly a toxic green goo oozing towards the town water supply. If you try to reuse a teabag for your fifth cup of tea, the results will be mighty disappointing.
All the groundwater monitor wells (28) around the old landfill fail to show contamination beyond a few chemicals and even then only in traces and it flows in the opposite direction from the municipal water supply over a mile away. Plus the methane/sulfur gas detectors (9) stationed around the perimeter all test completely negative.
In fact, the most recent DEP report to the town (2010) clearly states in bold letters: "Groundwater does not flow towards the Lawrence Swamp public water supply wells, which are located over one mile to the south/southeast." And if that is not clear enough, they boldly sum it up: "The qualitative risk assessment concluded that there were no significant risks to human health or public safety posed by the landfill."
The main reason the town is under orders from the DEP to regrade the cap is because the contents have settled, causing the cap to sag from a lack of support from down below allowing rain water to pool in places. Thus the regrading will help with water runoff and will most certainly aid in reducing leachate production.
But that is not what conflicted neighbors will unleash on Town Meeting Monday night. Instead, a doomsday scenario that could pass for a science fiction disaster movie trailer. YouTube here they come.
Old landfill (note gas detection pipes)
NIMBYs fire off a half-page ad selectively quoting from a NIMBY website that selectively cherry picks facts from oceans of Department of Environmental Protection required data, but still doesn't endorse the expensive sky-is-falling ad; and the town quickly (and cheaply) responds with a full spread of photon torpedoes via the main page of the official town website, normally a place where people go to figure out how to pay parking tickets.
While the old unlined landfill these folks bought expensive homes around certainly does produce lots of leachate--especially when it rains--that fluid is not exactly a toxic green goo oozing towards the town water supply. If you try to reuse a teabag for your fifth cup of tea, the results will be mighty disappointing.
All the groundwater monitor wells (28) around the old landfill fail to show contamination beyond a few chemicals and even then only in traces and it flows in the opposite direction from the municipal water supply over a mile away. Plus the methane/sulfur gas detectors (9) stationed around the perimeter all test completely negative.
In fact, the most recent DEP report to the town (2010) clearly states in bold letters: "Groundwater does not flow towards the Lawrence Swamp public water supply wells, which are located over one mile to the south/southeast." And if that is not clear enough, they boldly sum it up: "The qualitative risk assessment concluded that there were no significant risks to human health or public safety posed by the landfill."
The main reason the town is under orders from the DEP to regrade the cap is because the contents have settled, causing the cap to sag from a lack of support from down below allowing rain water to pool in places. Thus the regrading will help with water runoff and will most certainly aid in reducing leachate production.
But that is not what conflicted neighbors will unleash on Town Meeting Monday night. Instead, a doomsday scenario that could pass for a science fiction disaster movie trailer. YouTube here they come.
Old landfill (note gas detection pipes) 
2 comments:
Will there be a background music for these speeches?
No, actually the people in Amherst Woods want important information and the ability to participate in deciding what happens in their neighborhood. Who doesn't? People want this everywhere.
Why doesn't the town recognize this instead of springing development projects on neighborhoods, then justifying their decision not to work with neighbors by the negative reponse they get?
How can you justify involving neighbors in the Gateway, Atkins Corner, Pomeroy, etc. and not doing it here and other projects in town? It makes no sense.
Town meeting should vote this down and force the town to do it the right way. The town can't pen a binding contract and say we'll sort out the issues and decide afterward. Have some respect for people.
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