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LETTERS: It's not the solution


To the Editor:

The proposed landfill at the site north of Marion will eventually become a toxic problem.

No one will deny our community's need for money. We have seen our taxes increase and still see no significant dent in our economic needs. But I truly believe that we are a community that is willing to sacrifice and plan for a better future, and the answer does not come in the means of a landfill.

There is an abundance of information everywhere, it is not difficult to find or understand. This information will tell you that all landfills will eventually leak, that all landfills will cause some degree of permanent contamination to the environment, that all landfills stink (how appetizing for the Pizza Hut customers), that all landfills cause litter (not a good selling point for new businesses considering the industrial park).

I truly believe that no one in this community wants to make a bad decision, to condemn our environment and to see our future generations pay the consequences. Those in favor of the landfill sincerely believe it is safe, and after listening to KDHE and the Waste Management Authorities, it does sound quite inviting — and that we can receive monetary gain that will cause us no harm. The representatives from solid waste companies are not telling us the whole story. If they did, they would never find a community to accept their offer.

Landfills are not the solution for our disposable way of life. As long as communities continue to accept a few pennies for the destruction of our environment, the appropriate steps to deal with this enormous problem effectively will never happen.

Gerald J. Wiens

Marion

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