PETITION AGAINST LANDFILL EXPANSION (See Text Below)
To: San Benito County Supervisors & Planning Commission
For 10 years, almost 80% of garbage dumped at John Smith Landfill was from Silicon Valley. Now San Benito County officials want to expand our Landfill and double the amount of out-of-county garbage. Our beautiful County should not be a cheap dump for wealthy Silicon Valley! (See full text of petition below.)
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To:
To: San Benito County Supervisors & Planning Commission
From:
[Your Name]
I am a resident of San Benito County. I urge our County officials to REJECT the expansion of John Smith Landfill for out-of-county garbage.
For 10 years, almost 80% of the garbage has been coming from Silicon Valley counties (Santa Clara, Alameda & San Mateo). These wealthy counties pay a lower rate ($30 per ton*) than San Benito residents ($57 per ton*) to dump their garbage at our Landfill.
I oppose proposals to expand our Landfill (up to five times bigger) and double the amount of garbage coming daily from other counties. These proposals harm our community.
I am concerned:
(1) About the traffic, noise & air pollution from 543 semi-trucks, per week, hauling Silicon Valley's garbage to our Landfill via local roads.
(2) That revenue from out-of-county garbage is not enough to pay the cost of repairing roads damaged by heavy garbage trucks, and
(3) That toxic chemicals (like PFAS) are leaking from the Landfill into our groundwater.
* Source of data: August 12, 2021 letter from Celina Stotler (San Benito County Integrated Waste Management, manager) found at bit.ly/3w6EYFg