FINDING SUITABLE SITE FOR REGIONAL LANDFILL IS NO EASY PROCESS

No matter how much study goes into site selection of a landfill, there is usually a strong reaction from neighboring landowners. It is a universal rule: No one wants to live next to a landfill.

Add to that a growing list of environmental guidelines that landfills must meet, and the task of starting a new landfill can become formidable and costly. Currently, it costs about $25 a ton to bury trash in a landfill.

Over the past few years, several area landfills have closed mainly because of stringent environmental rules, and finding a place to send trash has become more difficult.

Thus was born the idea of a regional landfill to handle solid waste needs of Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry, Madison, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve and Iron counties.

The regional committee of landfill researchers expect to choose several potential sites this week. Despite the months of study, you can count on a howl of protests.

But residents living in these counties should brace for a dose of reality. The trash has to go somewhere, and it can't always be sent somewhere else. The committee has carefully considered a number of key criteria in making its decision.

The committee weighed public acceptance, facility costs and surrounding land uses. And once a site is chosen, it must still meet water table and geology tests plus a rigid list of DNR criteria.

Other considerations include traffic impact, aesthetics and a large buffer zone that will help put neighbors at ease, public health concerns, site size, geology and topography and the complexity of site ownership. Site size is another factor, since a goal of this landfill is to serve the region for at least 20 years.

Perhaps it is time to explore landfill alternatives such as incinerating it. Lone Star Industries Inc. burns hazardous wastes in its high-tech incineration system that fuels production of cement. But such systems aren't cheap. Are taxpayers willing to accept the higher costs of solid waste alternatives only if a landfill may land in their community?

Many area towns are pushing recycling, but it doesn't eliminate the bulk of trash, and sometimes it is hard to find enough markets for all the recycled goods. Cape Girardeau alone collects 30 tons of recyclable materials each month.

The regional landfill site committee members want to avoid what happened in Ste. Genevieve. When a chunk of land was sold to the Ste. Genevieve Development Co., neighbors thought a subdivision was planned. They weren't pleased to learn the company applied for a landfill permit. A countywide protest effort formed in 1992, and the project remains in limbo.

Committee members have promised a well-publicized and documented process to choose the site to alleviate any of the public's fears. It is a sensible approach. But committee members should also be pragmatic. While they can work to calm community fears, they probably can do little about neighborhood complaints.