Landfill supporters say stakes high

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN JERRY ENGLER
Landfill proponents say the money stakes have never been higher.

Their opponents to locating any regional landfill near Marion usually cite their reasons as having to do with health hazards, environmental hazards, location that might interfere with the quality of life, and public costs to roads and eventual closing of the site.

Proponents usually cite their reasons as having to do with financial advantages to Marion County.

Some proponents have asked for a clarification of their financial concerns in light of recent commitments by the Marion County Commission to close the old landfill southwest of Marion as required in a lawsuit decision in favor of the Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment, and to purchase the KC Development transfer station in Marion.

The proponents said they can’t have their names in the newspaper because of business considerations and attorney advice.

They said the mill levy property tax could become far less bearable for county property owners, and force some alternative action anyway that is within the planned scope of persons who either hoped to locate a new landfill or reopen the old one.

According to figures they put together, Marion County probably will have to pay $750,000 for its share to open a landfill planned by the four-county regional authority with equal membership of Marion, Dickinson, McPherson and Harvey Counties. They said even though Marion County has the lowest population of the four counties, it will always be expected to come up with equal money for its decisions.

They said estimates for just putting on the dirt cover that would satisfactorily close the old landfill are coming in at $650,000.

They pointed out that the published price to the county of the transfer station and debt settlement for its services are $825,000.

They estimated county legal fees for all of the solid waste concern issues are at $125,000. They said all of these costs total $2.35 million.

They believe a company coming in to establish a Subtitle D regional landfill that would have generated income by bringing in trash from Wichita and other areas would have taken care of all of these costs for Marion County at no cost to taxpayers.

They said that, in addition, a figure was discussed between Waste Connections and the City of Marion that would have paid a tipping fee to local government of $1.75 a ton on an average 2,000 tons a day or $1,050,000 a year.

Plus this, they said the company would have provided free solid waste disposal for all of Marion County although a resident still would have to pay for the service of having garbage picked up.

The proponents said jobs and money generated for future generations of Marion County are things that shouldn’t be passed up.

An opponent, also asked to comment, said that the price to be paid by future generations is too much, and that it is better for each county to assume the risk and cost of disposing of its own trash as much as possible. The opponent said Marion County is assuming responsibility for its trash with its membership in the four-county plan.

The opponent repeated an often asked question that if Wichita’s trash is such a wonderful opportunity to have, then why doesn’t Wichita’s home Sedgwick County try to keep it there?

The opponent contended that the employment opportunity in the event of a regional landfill in Marion County would turn out to be a very few people, “maybe two or three,” shoving dirt while most transportation workers for solid waste continued to live in the counties where the trash was generated.

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