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Recently I was sitting at the table enjoying the aroma of my morning coffee and opening my mail, so what do I open but a “Courtesy Violation Notice” from the County. Someone apparently did not like what I have to say so instead of dispute me publicly they decided to report me anonymously.
OK I’ll play your little game. So why do they worry about a little sign? Because our county population might start thinking and doing research on their own? I plead of you, get informed. I have included links to the actual meetings and comments I address. Watch the full meetings and get involved. Please don’t believe me, look up the facts yourself.
I recently had a friend come down from a town north who said, “You have a ‘Gem’ in this County.” I fully agree. We have the Pinnacles National Park, Hollister Hills, wineries, historic towns, organic farming, beautiful back country, with growing and vibrant communities. We also have many of the growing pains associated with that, including cash flow.
Please do your homework. Look up the article on Waste Connections, the mother company wanting to expand our landfill. They currently have two Los Angeles County landfills that have been expanded, as we are being promoted to do to our dump. Those landfills are now dealing with uncontrollable spontaneous combustion emitting gases and melting monitoring equipment under tons of trash. How much will that cost? Read the article sounds exactly like this proposed project in years to come.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-12-12/mysterious-
chemical-reactions-fuel-crisis-in-l-a-landfills
Any farmer knows what spontaneous combustion means to a hay stack. How hard it is to put out, try that under acres of burning buried trash, spewing fumes in our county.
First and foremost I hear that “The County needs the money.” I fully agree with that argument. This county like so many other municipalities in California need money. It would be great to have a clean reliable income stream, but I am not willing to “sell our soul” for generations to get it.
Next I continually hear from the proponents’ comments that “We can’t afford” a transfer station. But Waste Solutions manager stated at the Oct. 25, 2023 San Benito County Planning Commission meeting that 24% of San Benito County waste was transported and buried out of county in 2021. If it can be done then it can be done now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWQzmEmwamM (Time 151:00)
Back to the subject, so what is this terrible violation? I had hung a sign on our Family
Organic Farm fencing in opposition to the traffic proposed by the landfill expansion. My information about truck count is correct, but their message is clear, shut up the opposition. They do not complain about all signs, just what they don’t like “the people” to hear.
I stated “Imagine up to 1,900 trucks stopping by Ridgemark Weekly.” This is approximately the correct truck count and the current proposed route to go on. Highway 25 through the Safeway bottle neck, past our hospital, senior housing, Ridgemark, the new Gavilan Collage, to Best Road, etc. Do the math- 924 trucks each way plus incidentals and materials.
These numbers were updated by county contracted attorney Breann Moebius at the Commissioners meeting on Oct. 30, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7O3TfajMAY (TIME 38.42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7O3TfajMAY (Time 1:19.01)
This was after at the previous meeting on Oct. 27, 2023 at which time I questioned about what appeared to be an incorrect truck count report numbers presented by a contracted consultant on Oct. 25, 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e2dCrsU2O0 (Time 2:25:15)
This project includes bringing into your county, trash from up to five other counties, containing 57 communities with over 5,700,000 people into our county of 65,000 people for half century or more. Not all that trash is coming here but lots will be. There is so much more that I do not have time to address in depth. But I do say if you want to silence people do so with facts not anonymously.
I have always based my remarks on facts and can support my opinion. Please get informed! Get involved! Go to meetings!
Planning Commission Jan. 31, @ 6:00 P.M.
Call your supervisor, ask them to vote no on landfill expansion!
Or one day your children and grandchildren will…wake up and smell the garbage.
Sincerely,
Karl C. Skow