Not only in Conecuh, but citizens in neighboring Escambia, Monroe, and surrounding counties are in a dither about a developer's plan to build an "environmentally friendly" landfill. Groups are organizing. Citizens are wearing green ribbons, and the Conecuh County Commission has caved to the pressure by rejecting the idea. The latter was somewhat premature because the developer has yet to submit an application.
In truth, however, given enough money, can any grassroots organization or government jurisdiction stop landfill development? There was opposition to the "Fob James" landfill in Escambia County, Alabama, but did that stop it? It is thriving - taking in garbage from at least three states if not more, defacing beautiful, once pristine land and causing a host of problems.
Here's the deal: Landfill developers search out rural counties where there is little established law or regulation to block them. These developers generally have the best lawyers to represent them and know ALL the arguments. The developers in the Conecuh County planned landfill have options on 5000 acres of property near the "Fob James" landfill. The land is owned by a large company involved in the insurance industry. Previously it was owned by giant paper products firm. It will be interesting to see if the options are renewed later this year given the public outcry. How much would an option on 5000 acres cost?
If a 1500 acre landfill were to be constructed out of this acreage it would be one of the largest in the United States. The largest is the Puente Hills Landfill near Los Angeles with 1365 acres. Big money here folks!
According to published reports mostly by Connie Baggett who is a correspondent for the Mobile Register, the principals in "Conecuh Woods," the landfill development company, are Donald W. "Jimmy" Stone and David W. Kirby, who, according to the public relations mouthpiece, Patrick Slevin, are both from the Tampa Bay area. I couldn't find out much on Mr. Stone, but Mr. Kirby is fairly interesting.
Kirby, according to Slevin, is also a regional manager for the Tenax Corporation which has a plant in Evergreen, Alabama. In Florida, Kirby is listed as a "landfill consultant."
Wondering why Kirby's employer would give him the time to go about developing landfills, I took a close look at Tenax themselves: Tenax, among other things, manufactures liners for landfills. Their main office is in Baltimore, Maryland and their president's name is Giovanni Capra. Capra is associated with several companies, one which is a leading manufacturer of sport gliders - Silent Alisport. Further checking reveals that the Chairman of the board of Tenax is Cesare Beretta who is also president and CEO of Advanced Geotech Systems which among other things does landfill design.
I also think it is interesting that Conecuh Woods has the resources and savvy to hire a top notch public relations firm to run interference for them. The Slevin Group based in Tallahassee, Florida is prepared to go to the wall to promote their client's interest. Read through their website and you get some idea of how they operate.
Despite the fact that I'm cheering for them, I don't think the anti-landfill crowd in south Alabama has a chance against the money that is going to be thrown into the legal battle. History has shown that landfill developers don't give up.
When I wrote my fictional book, The Publisher, a major sub-plot of the book was about a drug ring ran out of a network of landfill operations. I did a lot of research into landfills and almost lost track of my story because the subject of organized crime involvement in landfills was so fascinating. In the Northeast, organized crime families like the Genovese family*, made a fortune off of landfills. I came away from my landfill research convinced that it can be dangerous to your health to oppose certain landfill developers.
Good luck to the people in Conecuh County and Escambia County, Alabama in their fight.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment