* This article first appeared in The Times Herald-Record on December 21, 2000. Used by permission.

 

 

Orange County dump-site nullification fails to pass muster

GOSHEN: Orange County lawmakers yesterday voted 11-8 against a resolution to fully nullify one-time potential landfill sites. ˜˜˜ ˜˜˜

By Christopher Mele ˜˜˜
The Times Herald-Record ˜˜˜
cmele@th-record.com ˜˜˜ ˜˜˜

Orange County lawmakers yesterday rejected a symbolic resolution that showed that they're down on dumps. ˜˜˜

Republicans blunted a Democratic-led effort to declare 17 possible landfill sites null and void. Critics attacked the measure as redundant and inflammatory political fodder for next year's elections. ˜˜˜

Consultants identified the sites in 1993 as the county searched for suitable land to locate a new landfill. Faced with massive public opposition, the county ended the search while it was halfway done. ˜˜˜

Given the politics of locating a landfill, the 17 sites Œ and the efforts to build a new county dump Œ have effectively been dead for years. The county exports its trash to a Pennsylvania dump. ˜˜˜

Democratic lawmaker Jeffrey Berkman of Middletown wanted to drive a stake through the heart of the 17 sites. He wanted the county to explicitly declare the sites obsolete. ˜˜˜

Berkman, piggybacking on an idea by Legislator Thomas Pahucki, D-New Hampton, also called on communities to ban dumps within a mile of schools and other public facilities. ˜˜˜

The measure was non-binding and merely memorialized the Legislature's sentiment. But Legislator M. William Lahey, R-New Windsor, said the resolution would give unwarranted credence to the 17 sites. ˜˜˜

"We're reincarnating a slain dragon,'' said Legislator A. Alan Seidman, R-Cornwall, who accused Democrats of playing politics. "There was nothing more controversial on the agenda, so something had to be brought up." ˜˜˜

Legislator Patrick Berardinelli, R-Newburgh, asked why the Masada waste-to-ethanol plant proposed for Middletown was excluded from the resolution. Trucks bringing trash to the plant will spew pollution in a residential neighborhood, he said. ˜˜˜

"That is going to be worse by far than 17 sites that are not even under consideration by Orange County,'' he said.