01/24/05 Soo Evening News, Letter to the Editor
The Tri-Copc group formed in 1979 because of their concerns regarding the Dafter Landfill and its ability to accommodate the toxic materials which were being transported to the dump. This aquifer feeds the wells in the immediate surrounding area and feeds both the Munuscong and the Waiski rivers with the tributaries.
In 1983, the Dafter Township hired Garret Evans, PE to inspect the dump for its safety. His testimony concurring the landfill was: "The original design was contested in court and as a expert judge for the township, my testimony was given that ground water pollution could result due to a rupture of the natural clay, intended to isolate the solid waste from an underlying aquifer.
The opinion of the judge was, in part, as follows, "notwithstanding the fact that adjustments are intended, if built to present specifications without adjustment for adequate clay sealer or uplift, then operation of the landfill will likely pollute, impair, or destroy natural resources for the Dafter Township area." Dafter Township won the court case on the presentation of the facts, but the state of Michigan, in spite of the information, granted the landfill a license to operate.
The borings that were done by Northern Michigan Soil and Material Testing, Inc. of Marquette, showed that the dump are was composed of clay topsoil, brown silty clay, silty sand, and gravel in seams. There was no evidence of a solid clay base and the borings showed limestone and shale at 60 feet. The geology has not changed since this was done in 1979.
Tri-copc still has a concern as there was in past years very questionable materials being put into the Type 2 landfill, such as liquid industrial waste (without a license) and what is being put into the landfill today is "unknown." This is why Tri-Copc is opposed to the 40,000 cubic yards of toxic sediment being taken to the Dafter Landfill, which is supposed to accommodate domistic waste, not hazardous waste.
Marian Jenkins
Sault Ste. Marie