Landfills on Fire
No one knows what caused the 10-acre underground fire that, according to the Columbus Dispatch, was still burning on May 10 in the landfill north of Cincinnati in Hamilton County.
In August, wells were drilled into the millions of tons of rotting garbage buried at the Rumpke Sanitary Landfill, and it coughed up heat and carbon monoxide instead of natural gas.
If you think this is an isolated incident, think again. A total of three fires are burning in north-eastern Ohio landfills, including one at the Countywide Disposal and Recycling Facility in Stark County. And this fire started way back in 2006.
Can you imagine the pollution, explosions, and landslides from these landfill fires?
The heat from the fires melt buried pipes and plastic liners meant to shield groundwater. This means that landfill fires produce both air and water pollution, not to mention the stench, as well as noise and visual pollution.
As a response, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) now seeks ways to strengthen regulation to reduce landfill fire risks. This simply means more red tape before the real problem of too much trash gets solved. Instead of addressing the cause of the problem, which is too much waste, the EPA wants to find a stop gap measure to reduce the number of landfill fires.
Please reduce waste by buying bulk. Buying bulk from health food stores, co-ops, even online, is cheaper and higher in quality.
For example, in the Clintonville Co-op, 24 grams of white tea comes to $0.95; 24 grams net-weight of packaged tea bags costs $4.99. Clearly, the difference in price is staggering. Both teas are the same kind; both are organic. The latter simply costs more because of the packaging.
Teabags are convenient, but they are an example of how pre-packaging of food items creates a great deal of needless waste even if we recycle.
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