Is the landfill a problem to our water quality or not? It was a great danger until the old landfill was recapped back in 1990. They closed it down and fixed it so water could not get into the underground aquifer. In 1972-1990, we had over one million cubic yards of garbage. The amount kept increasing yearly.
 Since then, the country has taken steps to minimize the garbage amount and toxicity of it by banning certain things, such as refrigerators, from being thrown away at the landfill. They are also extracting methane from the old landfill and pushing the garbage further into the ground.
The landfill sits in hard clay which keeps the water out unless there are cracks in the clay. In order to stop the leakage of water before it starts, there is constant monitoring of the area. The Well Head Protection Committee (W.H.P.C.), is in charge of making plans to stop or take care of leaks and spills. |
There is a way for us, as consumers, to help out in the fight against water pollution-the three R's. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Everyday we are dumping tons and tons of garbage into our landfills. It costs the county between $630-$1,200 to dispose of one barrel of oil-based paint could be used by someone else, therefore decreasing the chances of it getting our water. People can bring things like paint into the Becker County Household Hazardous Waste offices where others can find a use for it. It is a free service and everything you pick up from there is also free. If you need to paint some furniture, for example, you could go to the Hazardous Waste office and just pick up some paint for free. It costs the consumer $65.00 to dispose a ton of compacted garbage or $8.50 a cubic yard.
There is also a solid waste management tax that goes into a fund to apply for grants.
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Do people really want to spend that much money to dispose of their garbage when they could recycle for free?
Our county does have a 33% recycling rate which is considered good but there is so much more that we could do. For now the landfill isn't a problem but if people keep dumping their garbage into it and not recycling, in a few years we could exprience some very serious consequences. |