On Saturday, March 12, 2005 the following letter appeared in the Daily Chronicle.
Editor:
I can see the sign now: “Cortland – The Garbage Capital of the Suburbs!”
Picture lines of 18-wheelers as all roads lead to Cortland. More trucks will be crowding onto already busy local highways. It will mean a destruction of farmland as more acres are gobbled up for major landfill expansion. It will mean the ever-existing danger of groundwater pollution and the many other possible dangers to our environment. It will present a real challenge to the quality of life in DeKalb County!
You see, Waste Management, owner of the DeKalb County landfill, is salivating at the opportunity to annex to Cortland. Then the two could apply to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a major landfill expansion permit and become designated as a regional landfill facility with the ability to bring in garbage from anywhere. Today, the landfill is restricted to no more than 10 percent of total volume from out of county, with about 14 years of capacity remaining at the present site.
There is major money in the garbage business, and Cortland will be offered sweet incentives. The county also can be offered a piece of the action. The temptation will be great.
During the past months, we have observed questionable leadership on the part of the town of Cortland, as uncontrolled growth is about to be unleashed. Cortland does not have the financial resources needed to provide the infrastructure and the services for thousands of homes that are on the drawing board. The town will be headed toward serious financial difficulty.
It just so happens that a Cortland town election is scheduled for April 5. A mayor and three trustees will be elected. They will have a majority vote to make a decision on these huge issues. I ask the residents of Cortland and DeKalb County to give serious consideration to these issues. Make your opinions known to these candidates in the upcoming days.
Is this what we want for DeKalb County? Since when is it our responsibility to provide a home for Chicagoland’s garbage? Do we want a huge permanent landmark, dwarfing what we have already built along Highway 88, as the gateway to DeKalb County? Let the debate begin. The stakes are high. Shall Cortland become the “Garbage Capital of Chicago and the Suburbs”?
ROGER STEIMEL
Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee DeKalb County Board
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3 Comments
If people cannot see the picture of the dump and what will happen there let's go outside the dump.
How about you who travel to work or shop east of 47 using Rt's 38, 30, 64 in the morning as the sun is in your eyes and then back home once again with the sun in your eyes. Imagine what it is already like traveling these routes with drivers of all kinds right! Difficult to pass when you would like to and really difficult when you are stuck behind a truck. Now picture adding 100's of trucks going both east and west all day into the night hauling garbage to the Cortland landfill. It will not be known as the DeKalb County Landfill, truckers will rename it Cortland dump for simplicity. Cortland dump is just a great way to recognize a community isn't it!
These trucks roll all day and in most cases these mega dumps have increased their hours to longer during the day and even into the weekends. You'd be foolish to say that you haven't noticed these trucks heading west of here to three or four other sites that are now approaching their end. Drive by the megadump just by Baxter Road and Rte 251 (North of Davis Junction about 10 or so miles). Even in the winter it reeks all day just think about the summer months, nice and ripe. Del Monte has nothing on what the Cortland dump is going to smell like.
I foresee mobile homes being requested for the subdivision that Montabano has around the new Cortland grade school. How do you build yet sell a home with that reekness smell there 24/7?
These trucks by the way will not just use the roads that I earlier mentioned. They will be found on Somonauk Road all the way north to 72 and south to at least 34. They will be coming off of the tollway and using Peace Road to 38 and Peace Road to Hintzsche's truck fuel stop.
How about the acquifer? Well good news at least for all north of the landfill. I believe most of the acquifers are running south so it's just those with wells and communties to the south who pump that should be concerned but they don't really seem to be at this point. Maybe they should. Landfills all leak, no matter how hard they try to keep them from doing so.
Maybe it would be just much easier if all the residents of DeKalb County joined forces and said NO! How about it.
Nice. I see it's ok for the County to take in 'Chicagoland's garbage'…. Just not for Cortland to huh? County getting what they want?
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Dan Steimel attended last night's (Feb 18) Stop the Mega-Dump meeting. I think it very safe to assume that Roger feels the same today about the landfill issue as he did in March of 2005.
There was 25 people in attendance at the meeting representing a good cross section of the community.