Imagine 9,000 tons of garbage per day entering Centre County.
That's what JoAnn Gillette, a resident of nearby Snow Shoe Township, says will happen if a proposed 5,800-acre landfill is created in Snow Shoe and neighboring Rush township.
And the only thing standing between the townships and the construction of this landfill, which would be the largest one east of the Mississippi River, is Gillette and a small group of concerned citizens, she said.
Resource Recovery LLC, a company recently created in Lancaster County, has been seeking permission for the past year to build a landfill on undeveloped land that overlaps both townships, about 30 miles north of State College, Gillette said.
Originally, Gillette and others fighting the landfill proposal belonged to Snow Shoe Rails-to-Trails, a group working to improve recreation trails that run through the area, but now they are part of a much larger fight, she said.
"Our township supervisors approached us and suggested we form a committee to study the drawbacks and benefits [of the landfill]," she said. "It was evident to us quickly that there weren't any good things about it, and no amount of money would make it appealing to us."
Gillette and others living near the proposed site studied similar landfills already in place in other parts of the state, she said.
They spoke with residents of those areas as well as state and local representatives who originally fought those proposals.
While Resource Recovery has not given any specific reasons for choosing this site, Gillette believes it is because it is cheap land with potentially easy access to Interstate 80 and possible access by rail as well.
Ed Walsh, professor emeritus of sociology, joined Gillette and others in fighting the landfill, even though he is a resident of State College.
Walsh explained that I-80 provides almost a direct route to bring trash from New York and New Jersey to Centre County. With Pennsylvania already being the biggest out-of-state trash acceptor in the country, garbage trucks could easily bring the trash here, he said.
One of the biggest concerns of those opposing the landfill is the danger associated with increased garbage truck traffic on I-80, he said.
"If the landfill can accept 9,000 tons of trash per day, and each truck carries 20 tons, that's 450 additional trucks making trips to Snow Shoe and back six days a week on an already unsafe roadway," Walsh said. "Someone has to be concerned about this traffic."
There is also a concern the liners used to protect any leeching, or the gradual seeping, of dangerous materials from the trash into the soil may eventually fail, compromising the purity of the groundwater, Gillette said.
She added that there is also talk of incorporating an incinerator on the landfill space, and research suggests the air quality within a 60-mile radius could be contaminated with dioxins and other toxins.
The 60-mile area would include Bellefonte, State College, Huntingdon, Altoona and Lewistown.
Walsh's wife, Rosemary, who is also a member of Gillette's group, said the release of gases by the incinerator is rarely a steady release, but instead plumes of exhaust. The ash from the bottom of the incinerator can also cause health problems if disposed of improperly.
Long-term exposure to dioxins may cause an increase in the risk of cancer and heart disease, as well as reproductive and developmental side effects, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Web site.
The landfill would also remove a large portion of woodland area that many use for hunting and fishing, and where many summer cabins have been built, Gillette said.
Resource Recovery has already promised to make generous donations to the communities surrounding the landfill area, and the landfill would generate more revenue for the townships through property taxes, she said.
In addition, the landfill and incinerator may create jobs, as would the proposed construction of an industrial park adjacent to the site, she said.
Last summer, Rush Township's supervisors voted to go ahead with zoning for the landfill, but at the subsequent Snow Shoe Township meeting, Resource Recovery met opposition before they even gave their presentation, Gillette said.
While that discord has cut down the landfill size, the concern now is fighting the remaining section of the landfill in Rush Township and creating a better base of concerned citizens to fight the proposal, she said.
Ed Walsh said some local political figures have been supporting the group in the fight against the landfill.
County Commissioner Scott Conklin, D-Centre, and state Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Clinton, have both publicly spoken out against the landfill project, while other representatives have offered their help privately, he said.
The group is now trying to gain student support and hopes some concerned students can aid the group in planning, researching and protesting, Ed Walsh said.
Students "are so bright and have so many human and intellectual resources," he said. "They have great ideas and can help us try to work toward the best things."
Gillette said her fight isn't focused on the present but the future.
"What is done to future generations of this area and what we would be leaving our kids and grandkids needs to be a serious concern," she said. "They will be bringing trash here 100 years from now, and who will still be around that can be held accountable?"
Rosemary Walsh said the landfill is not a logical decision for Centre County.
"Over the past year, the county has increased its amount of recycled products to 30 percent" of all waste, she said. "Now they want us to take everyone else's garbage. It makes no sense."
Ed Walsh said this has not been the first time private citizens have had to rally and stand up for what they believed in.
"This is another example of corporate America dictating to average citizens what's going to be done," he said. "The opportunity is for average citizens like ourselves to realize that big money doesn't always get its way if sufficient numbers of citizens mobilize to challenge poor decisions."
