Pima County Supervisors are preparing a resolution to ask the town of Marana to slow down their race to slap down a landfill outside their town limits and on the edge of several Pima County neighborhoods out north of Avra Valley Road.
The resolution cites several concerns, including the size of the dump, which is eight times the acreage of the Tangerine Landfill. (It will rise more than 200 feet from the ground.) It also calls for more archaeological surveys and complains that the surrounding roads are in no condition to handle a steady stream of waste haulers.
One other concern: The dump could need to import trash to turn a profit, and once Marana gives the landfill operators the green light to build a dump, the town will have no say in whether it becomes a national dumping ground.
Andrea Rivera of the morning daily has some details on the landfill plan:
Shellberg, who lives in Pima County on Avra Valley Road about two miles from Interstate 10, and other Pima County residents agree a landfill in the area is needed.But many questioned why it needs to be so close to residential communities such as Silverbell West and Happy Acres.
Residents also voiced concerns about water quality, property values, environmental
quality, traffic and general health and safety issues.
Silverbell West resident Pam Ruppelius is concerned about water contamination.
Her home sits north of the proposed landfill and already has a reverse osmosis unit installed to filter nitrates from her drinking water.
Racy told the crowd plans for the proposed landfill include a double liner system, which creates a barrier between waste and the environment, and installation of monitoring wells on the property.
“We have no guarantee of this supposed liner system,” Ruppelius said. “What are we going to be drinking? It may not affect us right now, but what about your families later?”
