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Post by jean on Sept 8, 2020 9:58:08 GMT -5
This letter to the editor was published in today's Greensburg Daily News 9/8/2020. WTRE also periscoped the County Commissioners meeting this morning where this topic was discussed...please be sure to listen to that discussion for an update on this issue. Letter to the Editor Protest the landfill Dear Editor: Our cancer death rate is one of the highest in the state of Indiana. PFAS comes from basic household items put in our landfill every day. The leachate tainted PFAS is pumped to the city, treated and put on our soil and in gas creek. It ends up in the water, the soil, the crops and the food supply. The EPA says PFAS is a problem. IDEM told us they have a committee studying it. A Purdue scientist just got $1 million grant to study it. The state has legislation pending and is studying it. No one knows what to do with it because it is considered a “forever chemical” and does not degrade. PFAS causes cancer, autoimmune problems and reproductive problems. Knowing the above, why are we continuing to take 75% from out of county into our county landfill? Why are we continuing to pump that leachate into the city and spreading it on our soil and letting it run off into the water? Why are we expanding a landfill that is positioned where it is a threat to an aquifer that IS in that area and has been threatened before? A lot of time was spent trying to convince us that the aquifer isn’t there when it is. It sure seems with the above indications that time could have been much better spent. There are several meetings coming up before this landfill expansion can be approved. Please attend and voice your concerns for the health of our community. Jean Johannigman, Greensburg greensburgdailynews-cnhi.newsmemory.com/?token=9d828a2282c32c342fd4389ca85c4fdf_5f57644d_3910a7 |
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Post by jean on Nov 28, 2020 14:49:10 GMT -5
The Landfill Expansion is on the BZA meeting this Wednesday night, December 2nd, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the meeting room behind the Sheriff's dept. on Ireland Street.
PLEASE TRY TO ATTEND AND PLEASE SHARE THIS NOTICE.
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Post by jean on Dec 5, 2020 14:56:15 GMT -5
Landfill expansion on hold
CAFO setback change gets unfavorable recommendation
KEVIN GREENDAILY NEWSGREENSBURG — The idea of expanding Decatur County’s landfill has been put on hold until at least February, and a suggested change to setbacks as they relate to confined animal feeding operations was given an unfavorable recommendation Wednesday night.The Decatur County Board of Zoning Appeals met at 6:30 p.m. in the EMA meeting room at 315 S. Ireland Street.The only item of business considered was a special exception request from Mark Fixmer of BEX Farms, who was seeking an exception in an I-2 zoning classification to operate a landfill on approximately 48.4 acres. The property is located at 2280 S. U.S. Hwy. 421, Greensburg, in Washington Township. The request would allow for an expansion of the county’s existing landfill.Decatur County Area Plan Director Krista Duvall reports this matter was tabled until Feb. 3.“We did not end up voting on that,” Duvall said. “There were a lot of questions and concerns brought up by citizens and a lot of information was provided by a number of people, so the board wanted time to look at the information and really study it. They will come back the first Wednesday of February and we’ll review this request again.”The Decatur County Area Plan Commission met following the BZA meeting.APC members considered three subdivision requests as well as an amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance that would change minimum required setbacks for CAFOs.Duvall said there were actually two votes on this issue: one to not support such a change and the other to affirm support of existing minimum setback requirements.“The vote was 9 against a favorable recommendation,” Duvall said. “Then they voted to leave our ordinances on confined feeding they way they are today, and that received nine favorable yes votes.”The ordinance currently requires a minimum setback of 650 feetSee LANDFILL on A2
LANDFILLCONTINUED FROM A1from a CAFO to the nearest dwelling. The proposed amendment would change that to 400 feet from the nearest property line.Duvall said the amendment was requested by the Decatur County Commissioners, and that the idea of changing setbacks as they related to CAFOs has been discussed for at least a year.This possible change to CAFO minimum setback requirements is ultimately the Decatur County Commissioners to make; they are not obligated to support the APC recommendation.Duvall said the idea of amending the setback requirements will likely be considered by the commissioners when they meet at 8 a.m. Dec. 21 in Room 106 of the Decatur County Courthouse. That meeting is open to the public.In other business, the APC granted a request from Steve Snyder to subdivide approximately 28 acres from approximately 40.26 acres and rezone approximately 2.99 acres of the 28 acres from A-1 to A-2 for construction of a single family detached dwelling. The property is owned by Kevin and Angela Weber and is located just west of 2038 E. CR 150 S., Greensburg, inWashington Township.The panel also granted a request from Walter Eicher to subdivide approximately 4 acres from approximately 10.35 acres and rezone approximately 2.99 of the 4 acres from A-1 to A-2 for construction of a single family detached dwelling. The property is owned by Wendell Thackery and is located just north of 7624 N. CR 225 E., Greensburg, in Clinton Township.And a request from Kelsey and Eric Amberger to subdivide approximately 5 acres from approximately 15 acres and rezone approximately 2.99 acres from A-1 to A-2 for construction of a single family detached dwelling was approved. The property is owned by Thomas and Linda Amberger and is located just east of 7835 W. CR 200 N., Greensburg, in Clay Township.Kevin Green: news@greensburgdailynews.com or 812-663-3111 x 217056.
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Post by jean on Dec 31, 2020 12:03:08 GMT -5
Landfill expansion on hold
KEVIN GREEN
DAILY NEWS
From Dec. 3, 2020 GREENSBURG — The idea of expanding Decatur County’s landfill has been put on hold until at least February, and a suggested change to setbacks as they relate to confined animal feeding operations was given an unfavorable recommendation Wednesday night.
The Decatur County Board of Zoning Appeals met at 6:30 p.m. in the EMA meeting room at 315 S. Ireland Street.
The only item of business considered was a special exception request from Mark Fixmer of BEX Farms, who was seeking an exception in an I-2 zoning classification to operate a landfill on approximately 48.4 acres. The property is located at 2280 S. U.S. Hwy. 421, Greensburg, in Washington Township. The request would allow for an expansion of the county’s existing landfill.
Decatur County Area Plan Director Krista Duvall reports this matter was tabled until Feb. 3.
“We did not end up voting on that,” Duvall said. “There were a lot of questions and concerns brought up by citizens and a lot of information was provided by a number of people, so the board wanted time to look at the information and really study it. They will come back the first Wednesday of February and we’ll review this request again.”
The Decatur County Area Plan Commission met following the BZA meeting.
APC members considered three subdivision requests as well as an amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance that would change minimum required setbacks for CAFOs.
Duvall said there were actually two votes on this issue: one to not support such a change and the other to affirm support of existing minimum setback requirements.
“The vote was 9 against a favorable recommendation,” Duvall said. “Then they voted to leave our ordinances on confined feeding they way they are today, and that received nine favorable yes votes.” The ordinance currently requires a minimum setback of 650 feet from a CAFO to the nearest dwelling. The proposed amendment would change that to 400 feet from the nearest property line.
Duvall said the amendment was requested by the Decatur County Commissioners, and that the idea of changing setbacks as they related to CAFOs has been discussed for at least a year.
This possible change to CAFO minimum setback requirements is ultimately the Decatur County Commissioners to make; they are not obligated to support the APC recommendation.
Duvall said the idea of amending the setback requirements will likely be considered by the commissioners when they meet at 8 a.m. Dec. 21 in Room 106 of the Decatur County Courthouse. That meeting is open to the public.
In other business, the APC granted a request from Steve Snyder to subdivide approximately 28 acres from approximately 40.26 acres and rezone approximately 2.99 acres of the 28 acres from A-1 to A-2 for construction of a single family detached dwelling. The property is owned by Kevin and Angela Weber and is located just west of 2038 E. CR 150 S., Greensburg, in Washington Township.
The panel also granted a request from Walter Eicher to subdivide approximately 4 acres from approximately 10.35 acres and rezone approximately 2.99 of the 4 acres from A-1 to A-2 for construction of a single family detached dwelling. The property is owned by Wendell Thackery and is located just north of 7624 N. CR 225 E., Greensburg, in Clinton Township.
And a request from Kelsey and Eric Amberger to subdivide approximately 5 acres from approximately 15 acres and rezone approximately 2.99 acres from A-1 to A-2 for construction of a single family detached dwelling was approved. The property is owned by Thomas and Linda Amberger and is located just east of 7835 W. CR 200 N., Greensburg, in Clay Township.
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Post by jean on Jan 25, 2021 10:08:59 GMT -5
The next meeting on the landfill will take place on Wednesday, February 3rd at the meeting room behind the sheriff's department off of Ireland street at 6:30 pm. suggest being there by 6:15 pm.
The following is an article that I received from a fellow protester of this landfill and then sent to the County DIrector for the County BZA and Plan Director Krista Duvall with my commentary.
Krista, please share this with board members pertaining to the landfill expansion...remember PFAS is a forever chemical and is in the landfill and the landfill leachate that is being put on our soil, running off into water sources and is in our crops and food supply. The landfill should be closed and become a receiver station or limited to Decatur County waste only.
Corteva to pay $640M as part of agreement over ‘forever chemicals’January 24, 2021 | Associated Press.
January 18, 2021
The Dupont Co. and its spinoff business Chemours have agreed to resolve legal disputes over environmental liabilities for pollution related to man-made chemicals associated with an increased risk of cancer and other health problems.The agreement also includes Corteva—formerly known as Dow AgroSciences—which has major operations in Indianapolis.The binding memorandum of understanding announced Friday comes just over a month after Delaware’s Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that DuPont massively downplayed the cost of environmental liabilities imposed on Chemours when DuPont spun off its former performance chemicals unit in 2015.The chemicals at issue are known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. They include perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, which was used in the production of Teflon, and have also been used in firefighting foam, water-repellent clothing and many other household and personal items. They sometimes are referred to as “forever chemicals” because of their longevity in the environment.The memorandum resolves legal disputes originating from the spinoff and establishes a cost-sharing arrangement and escrow account for potential future legacy PFAS liabilities arising out of pre-July 1, 2015 conduct.DuPont, Chemours and Corteva, an independent public company that was previously the agriculture division of DowDuPont, also have agreed to resolve about 95 pending cases, as well as other unfiled matters, in multidistrict PFOA litigation in Ohio. The $83 million settlement will be split roughly equally among the three companies. It does not include a case that resulted in a $50 million jury verdict in March that DuPont is appealing.The Ohio verdict stemmed from a class action lawsuit involving about 80,000 residents of Ohio and West Virginia who drank water that was contaminated by chemical releases from DuPont’s Washington Works facility near Parkersburg, West Virginia.More than 3,500 individual class members who suffered from any of six diseases linked to PFOA filed individual personal injury cases against DuPont. Those cases have been centralized in Ohio federal court.After three trials in which juries returned verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs, DuPont agreed in 2017 to settle the remaining 3,500-plus cases.Since that time, more than 100 post-settlement cases have been filed. The first trial in those cases resulted in a $50 million verdict for a man who developed testicular cancer, and a mistrial in a consolidated case involving a woman with kidney cancer.“The agreement will provide a measure of security and certainty for each company and our respective shareholders using a transparent process to address and resolve any potential future legacy PFAS matters,” the CEOs of the three companies said in a joint statement.Under the cost-sharing arrangement, DuPont and Corteva, on one hand, and Chemours, on the other, agree to a 50-50 split of certain expenses incurred over a term not to exceed 20 years, or an aggregate $4 billion of qualified expense and escrow contributions.Under an existing agreement from 2019, DuPont and Corteva will each bear 50% of the first $300 million. After that, DuPont would be responsible for 71% and Corteva for the remaining 29%. That would bring DuPont’s share of the potential $2 billion contribution from DuPont and Corteva to about $1.36 billion. Corteva’s share would be about $640 million.The companies also agreed to establish a $1 billion maximum escrow account to address potential future PFAS liabilities, with annual contributions over eight years.After the expiration of the arrangement, Chemours’ indemnification obligations under the separation agreement would continue unchanged, subject to certain exceptions. Chemours will waive legal claims regarding the 2015 spinoff, and pending arbitration regarding those claims will be dismissed.Chemours sued DuPont in 2019, alleging that DuPont deliberately lowballed the cost of environmental liabilities Chemours would face in reimbursing DuPont for pollution related to PFAS.But a Delaware judge ruled that he had no jurisdiction to hear the case because the separation agreement between the companies clearly states that all disputes arising from the spinoff are subject to binding arbitration.Chemours argued on appeal that the arbitration clause was unenforceable because the designated management team of Chemours did not give its consent but was instead forced to follow the dictates of DuPont as the parent company.When it spun off Chemours in 2015, DuPont had pegged the maximum liability in the multidistrict litigation involving the 3,500-plus PFOA cases at $128 million. The company settled 19 months later for $671 million, agreeing to pay half the settlement amount, and up to $125 million more toward costs of other PFOA-related litigation. Chemours paid the other half.Chemours argued in its lawsuit that DuPont had “a keen incentive” to downplay environmental liabilities while extracting a multibillion-dollar dividend from Chemours that would help fund a stock buyback.A Chemours attorney told the judge, for example, that Chemours faced more than $200 million in costs to address environmental issues at a North Carolina manufacturing facility—100 times more than DuPont’s estimated $2 million maximum liability. Chemours also said potential environmental liabilities in New Jersey far exceed the $337 million previously cited by DuPont.Chemours asked the judge to limit DuPont’s indemnification rights to the maximum liabilities it certified, or for an order directing the return of the $3.9 billion dividend.Editor's note: Please note our updated comment policy that will govern how comments are moderated.
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Post by jean on Jan 26, 2021 15:29:11 GMT -5
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Post by jean on Feb 12, 2021 9:52:56 GMT -5
Landfill questions need to be submitted today!
Any questions concerning the next landfill expansion meeting need to be in to Krista Duvall at the area plan today for the next meeting on March 3rd. So anything that you may want answered etc. you need to get to : kduvall@decaturcounty.in.gov no later than today. 2/12/21. Please forward this to any and all interested parties. Please try to attend the next Meeting on March 3rd.
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Post by jean on Feb 19, 2021 11:03:05 GMT -5
This is a letter to the editor that i submitted to the Greensburg Daily News:
Decatur County, DO YOU CARE!?!?
1.) Do you care that Dec. Co. has one of the highest cancer death rates in the state of Indiana?
2.) Do you care that we have a very high rate of Auto Immune diseases?
3.) Do you care that articles are put into our landfill every day that contain a chemical called PFAS that does not degrade and is called a forever chemical?
4.) Do you care that PFAS causes Cancer, auto-immune and reproductive problems?
5.) Do you care that PFAS never goes away from our water, soil, crops, food supplies and our body?
6.) Do you care that the landfill takes in 75% from outside of our county vastly increasing the amount of this chemical / leachate that we have to deal with?
7.) Do you care about the increased traffic and wear and tear on our roads BECAUSE 75% of what goes into our landfill comes from out of County?
IF YOU CARE......Mark your calendars ! Come to the next County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on Wednesday, March 3rd at 6:30 pm at the Decatur County Emergency Management Meeting Room at 315 South Ireland St. Greensburg , IN and object to the expansion of this landfill.
Stand at the podium, state your name, and say I care about Decatur County and I object to this landfill expansion.
Jean Johannigman
Greensburg, IN
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Post by jean on Feb 24, 2021 16:23:20 GMT -5
The Greensburg Daily News published my letter to the editor as follows on 2/23/21
Decatur County, DO YOU CARE!?!?
1.) Do you care that Dec. Co. has one of the highest cancer death rates in the state of Indiana?
2.) Do you care that we have a very high rate of Auto Immune diseases?
3.) Do you care that articles are put into our landfill every day that contain a chemical called PFAS that does not degrade and is called a forever chemical?
4.) Do you care that PFAS causes Cancer, auto-immune and reproductive problems?
5.) Do you care that PFAS never goes away from our water, soil, crops, food supplies and our body?
6.) Do you care that the landfill takes in 75% from outside of our county vastly increasing the amount of this chemical / leachate that we have to deal with?
7.) Do you care about the increased traffic and wear and tear on our roads BECAUSE 75% of what goes into our landfill comes from out of County?
IF YOU CARE......Mark your calendars ! Come to the next County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on Wednesday, March 3rd at 6:30 pm at the Decatur County Emergency Management Meeting Room at 315 South Ireland St. Greensburg , IN and object to the expansion of this landfill.
Stand at the podium, state your name, and say I care about Decatur County and I object to this landfill expansion.
Jean Johannigman
Greensburg, IN
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke
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Post by jean on Mar 3, 2021 20:43:33 GMT -5
LANDFILL DECISION MADE... Sad to say they passed the expansion of the landfill in spite of many objections and the PFAS legislation coming down the pike that the county and city will be forced to deal with because of the way they are disposing of the leachate from the landfill that IS impacting our health. Things are politically normal in Decatur County. Here is the video of the meeting ; PART 1 : www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBhCVjOMGfIPART 2 : www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_NmuJn7rGc |
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Post by jean on Mar 18, 2021 11:52:28 GMT -5
Excellent article in the GDN today! Dropping the environmental ball Indiana ranks worst in the nation in toxic chemicals and pollution released per square mile, posing grave danger to the health of Hoosiers. So you’d think the State Legislature would be determined to pass new laws to address such problems — along with a host of other environmental concerns. You’d be wrong. Exactly zero bills made it through the House Environmental Affairs Committee during the current session. In fact, the committee never even convened to consider legislation. It was the only House or Senate committee with assigned bills that never met. The buck stopped with the committee chairman, Republican Doug Gutwein of Francesville, who in an email to the Indy Star cited neither a failure of communication nor a logistical snafu to explain the inactivity. Instead, he said the 13 bills sent to his committee were simply too complex. Specifically, Gutwein wrote that pandemic protocols for committees dictated that “we’ve been more deliberate about hearing only legislation that is critically important to pass this year.” The following bills that died in Gutwein’s environmental committee weren’t critically important? • One requiring preschool and daycare facilities to test for lead and address high levels. • Another prohibiting utilities from dumping contaminating coal ash in unlined ponds where it leeches into groundwater. • Another limiting the amount of “forever chemical” toxins in drinking water. To Gutwein, they weren’t. His failure to convene the environmental committee is a gross dereliction of responsibility at a time when protection of the environment and promotion of clean energy is so important to Indiana’s future. The House environmental committee will look at three bills crossing over from the Senate, but none would have a major positive impact on the environment. In fact, one of them, SB 389, would compromise Indiana’s wetlands to the interests of home builders. By some measures, Indiana is among the worst states for pollution. It’s high time for the Republican majority to pull its head out of the toxic waste cloud and do something about it. greensburgdailynews-cnhi.newsmemory.com/?token=0cbb39373b433a1d9fd49381ed2ecde5_605342cf_3910a7 |
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Post by jean on Mar 18, 2021 12:01:18 GMT -5
Below is a letter to the editor i wrote and submitted to the GDN
Dear Editor,
I read with great interest an article in the Greensburg Daily News Opinion page that was totally on target . Kudos to the author. I want to encourage everyone to look up this article and take the time to read it. It was printed on 3/18/21 and titled : "Dropping the environmental ball". This article spoke of how there were several bills at the state level , with the environmental committee that because of COVID were apparently deemed not critically important. All of these impacted the health of people in our state. One was limiting the amount of "forever chemical" toxins in drinking water.
I want to add that our local County officials and their board members are also negligent concerning some of the same said issues mentioned in this article. More specifically, the County Commissioners, the County BZA, and the County Plan Commission were all provided with information on the "forever chemicals" concerning the then proposed expansion of the landfill.
Of course they ( most especially the BZA) took their time in trying to look all concerned for the people who were protesting this expansion of the landfill, but in the end the impact on the health of this community was totally ignored. The BZA vote passed this landfill expansion 3 votes to 2. That again gave them the opportunity to make the vote appear as if some were "concerned" about this issue. I might add that what I consider the deciding vote was made by someone who stated in one of the meetings that they served on the recycling board. Note that the recycling board receives money from the landfill.
With our county being one of the highest in the state on cancer deaths and auto immune health issues when are we going to start to take measures to clean up our own backyard?!?
Please forget political party and keep the health of our community in mind when you go to vote.
Jean Johannigman
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke
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Post by jean on Mar 23, 2021 16:44:44 GMT -5
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Post by jean on Dec 4, 2023 6:44:12 GMT -5
DISTRUST LINGERS AFTER PFAS FOUND IN DRINKING WATER SCROLL DOWN AFTER YOU CLICK ON THIS LINK: www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/03/wisconsin-wausau-lawsuit-manufacturers-forever-chemicals/71793795007/MY COMMENT :Jean Johannigman This is a must watch: PFAS is a forever chemical. it stays in the water, the soil, and then will grow into the food raised on that soil. It also stays in our body. we are doing a process here in our decatur county of sending the leachate from the old and CURRENT landfill to the city where they process it and have for years applied it to our soil and to our crick beds. IDEM has a list (which i have) of all the farms in our county this has been applied to. PFAS is in many items that go daily into our landfill. Pizza boxes, clothing and various types of plastics. i find this video of wisconsin misleading in one way....and that is the lady purchasing the purified water. there is only one just formulated pitcher, which has gold in the filter that will remove the PFAS. i have found no other. keep in mind our County recently allowed the landfill to expand exponentially towards our city knowing this information and knowing that 79% of all that goes into that landfill comes from out of county. |
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