Urgent Media Release
Adams County Sets June Hearings on Controversial Dump
Neighbors' Lawsuit Blocked Bureaucrats' Approval,
Forced Public Hearings
Neighbor: "Every voice Counts"
(Bennett, CO. May 26, 2009)-Homeowners near Bennett will finally get their chance to tell Adams County elected officials face-to-face that it's time to "Dump the Dump." "Dump the Dump" is the battle cry of a group of property owners fighting the 165 acre dump in their neighborhood.
Adams County Commissioners scheduled public hearings on the controversial landfill after residents went to court to block automatic "administrative" approval of the Alpine Waste and Recycling Dump without a chance to be heard.
The Adams County Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the dump Thursday, June 11 th,at 1:30PM. The three-member Adams County Board of County Commissioners will hold a second hearing Monday, June 29 th, at 10:00AM. Both hearings will be in the 6 th floor conference room of the county administration building at 450 South 4 th Avenue in Brighton.
"Every voice counts. Everyone can and should can testify at the hearings," said
Leslie Gerbracht of AHOG, the neighborhood group that has been fighting the dump for nearly two years. There are about 80 homes near the proposed dump, seven miles east of Denver International Airport.
"We are confident the commissioners will follow their own guidelines and reject the dump," Those guidelines say a project must be "harmonious with the neighborhood...not detrimental to the area".
Getting Adams County elected officials to listen wasn't easy. The neighborhood group had to raise $100,000 for lawyers to sue Adams County to block approval of the dump by county bureaucrats and force the public hearings. The AHOG lawsuit charged Adams County ignored its own rules when it approved the dump without a public hearing. Adams County probably spent the same fighting the citizen challenge.
The dump would initially take 50 semi-truck loads a day of garbage from commercial waste haulers, plus more from private trucks. Trucks carrying the waste would use roads through Bennett and Watkins.
The "waste stream" would contain household, commercial and industrial garbage, including medical waste, asbestos, and sludge.
The homeowners say blowing trash and odors from the dump will hurt property values, and will attract rats, raccoons, and skunks, and create a breeding place for mosquitoes and flies.
AHOG says birds attracted to the garbage will create hazards for planes using Front Range Airport and DIA.
Contact:
Dave Minshall, Minshall Media Strategies!
303-953-0666 C-720-244-1736