Keep

Keep

Dumpsters

To the Editor:

The arbitrary closing of the dumpsters in Rappahannock County is not just some procedural matter, but a bread and butter issue concerning and adversely affecting most of the people in the county. It appears to be the consensus of opinion, that this closing will have a disastrous effect on the county.

• It is inherently discriminatory and probably legally impermissible. Lfess affluent folks who cannot afford to buy new articles are prevented from reusing items no longer needed by

their neighbors^ The dumpsters are presently recycling centers, as anyone driving by them can see. This is prevented at the landfill.

• It is further discriminatory against small householders who, unlike the larger landowners, do not have the room for their own private dumps. This alone could be the basis of legal action with attendant costs to the county to defend.

• It is environmentally insensitive. If landowners start their own dumps, we will have a county with dozens of dumps with concomitant damage to the environment, to-wit: health, water and air quality.

• It further contains the seeds of its own destruction. The rationale for the original placing of these dumpsters was to eliminate indiscriminate dumping of trash. People who have for years utilized the present dumpsters will not readily modify their behavior because of the boards’ fiat. We call this habit. They will continue using the locations. Guardrails or signs will hardly prevent this. A 24-hour guard will only make sure that trash is deposited along the highway.

• Finally, it will result in inconvenience to all residents of the county. Is the cost of collecting the trash worth this price? The board was elected to carry out the \yill of the citizens. The large oppositibn, indicated by signatures on petitions, clearly shows that the closing is not only not in accord with the desire of the electorate, but in direct opposition thereto. Over 800