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The right approach
: The Washington Town Council passed an ordinance Resigned to protect its water supply last week, and its approach may contain a lesson.
, County officials charged with the responsibility of dealing with the county’s trash disposal problem may perceive the ordinance as an onerous regulation passed to thwart any attempt to locate a waste disposal facility near the town.
Members of council Would argue, however, that the intent is only to prevent the operation of improperly designed or constructed facilities within a radius of three miles. Thus, the ordinance would protect the town’s water supply, which pomes from a well to the north of the town limits, in Harris Hollow. ♦ Their concern about the town’s water supply is understandable. Once a water source becomes contaminated, 5t takes years, at least, for nature to flush away the pollutants. Some experts argue that contaminated supplies Way never be fit for human use again. \ Legally, pollution of a public water supply is a liability nightmare. The sums of money which could potentially be awarded to plaintiffs runs into the millions of dollars -- and ^neither the town, nor the county, is in a position to cover those costs.
Landfill defenders will argue that technology is the Answer — that government regulatioftSIKfrd monitoring will Sprevent any prol s, or assure that tliey are discovered in jime to prevent a d. aster ' i A case study, detailed in Sunday’s Washington Post, Vnay be enlightening. First, it should be noted that the Example, the Stringfellow Acid Pits, near Los Angeles, is a Schedule C hazardous waste facility, not a Schedule D sanitary landfill. But the same mistakes could occur at any landfill. J The dump site was opened in 1956 and used for 13 years, ^t was chosen because at the time it was thought that the rock Underlying the site was impermeable. Later, it turned out, the rock was fractured, allowing liquids to leach from the jlump into the groundwater. * After the leaching was discovered, attempts were made to control it. A clay cap was built over the 17-acre dump. It jgroded and leaked, allowing still more rain to seep through the deposited residues and into the groundwater. Holes were grilled to a depth below the pits, and gel was injected to seal |he fractures in the bedrock. Pressure from above from the Additional rainwater forced the leachate through the cracks
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