5000 Dumps

so find your way to the real america leave your big cities with their urban problems drive along the highways then off of them into god's country up into the rolling appalachian mountains to these highlands of west virginia and then find a surprise [Music] the town dump burning one moment smoldering the next a reminder that ugliness can be anywhere everywhere people are [Music] or drive through north carolina and watch as this city of 100 000 burns its waste [Music] or visit the redwood country of northern california as a lady disposes of her garbage [Music] so [Music] in new york state an open dump there are thousands of them in the united states [Music] more of man's cast offs clutter the western desert [Music] open dumping is a health hazard [Music] the environmental protection agency of the federal government has organized a campaign called mission 5000 the purpose to improve the quality of our environment by eliminating 5 000 of america's dumps in an effective two-year project soliciting the assistance and cooperation of thousands of local communities [Music] [Applause] most states do not effectively regulate open dumping or open burning of solid wastes here at a recent meeting of the minnesota state pollution control board at st paul officials are implementing a new anti-burning law this was d-day dump day before the pollution control board after d-day communities could no longer burn refuse in the open the discussion focused on what scores of counties and hundreds of towns and cities would do the flow of solid wastes would continue each community would have to devise a plan and put it into effect in many instances hiring specialized personnel buying land and equipment and increasing taxes or establishing new special service charges for waste disposal the board set procedures to be followed and sent them to all communities most states have not yet moved this far [Music] moultrie georgia is famous for its tobacco cattle hogs poultry cotton peanuts corn pecans watermelon and dump but moultrie's dump is being eliminated two petitions from local residents caused the georgia department of public health to place the city under orders to cease and desist within 30 days the city has known for several years that eventually it would have to develop a better system but repeatedly failed to take action the 30-day notice is finally forcing action but also introducing complications because of the short time allowed moultrie decided that a sanitary landfill was the most practical and economical alternative available after evaluating several possible sites this hundred acre tract was chosen it is quite close to the city and has no drainage problems moultrie's buying it will install access roads and will eventually move the city shops and garage to this location to centralize public works operations but the old dump is going to be difficult to close because it is infested with rats if the daily supply of garbage were simply cut off they would leave searching for food and might invade nearby homes therefore the local health department will undertake a systematic rat poisoning project at the old dump before the new landfill is opened then the piles of refuse and ashes will be compacted and covered with earth meanwhile the trash is getting higher and higher moultrie is under orders orders that are difficult to obey quickly [Music] as mission 5000 encourages thousands of communities to eliminate their dumps the communities may encounter a variety of problems let's consider a few typical ones here a small town is contracted with a local private operator to run its landfill he has plenty of equipment and personnel but the techniques are new to him so he doesn't know exactly what he should be doing he's careless in grading to handle runoff water and causes water pollution he uses insufficient earth cover and litters the surrounding area [Music] it takes a knowledgeable operator to run a good landfill meanwhile a nearby community which has been dumping and burning for years has decided to clean up it will start its new landfill on the same site as the dump the city fathers naively believe that if you dump garbage in a hole and cover it you have a sanitary landfill so far no detailed plan has been drafted no equipment purchased and the mayor is still quite vague about just how to do it raleigh north carolina will never be called a mission 5000 success story because this city of over a hundred thousand people has been operating a sanitary landfill for six years here too some practical problems dust and a sandy soil which is not ideal for cover material rawley's landfill is located close to the central city and adjacent to a new freeway the fill will bring a low area up to grade with a highway and will be made into a park when completed [Music] now the case of a community that went only halfway [Music] this city of 30 000 people obviously has an excellent sanitary landfill good equipment skilled personnel adequate cover material and plenty of space but only part of the city's solid wastes are being land filled the officials just can't bring themselves to bury the big stuff material that burns easily tree limbs leaves and furniture and big items such as refrigerators are still being hauled to the old dump so the city has all the expense of a sanitary landfill and most of the nuisances of a burning dump it's a state of mind a habit the city hasn't yet accepted the concept that it needs a total disposal system this old dump has been closed and covered in attempting to establish a new facility the community could have requested advice from the state solid waste officer or the regional representative of the solid waste management office of the environmental protection agency instead they did it on their own opened a landfill which is really little better than the old dump cover is applied only when somebody gets around to it state or federal engineers would have made recommendations on equipment and procedures perhaps arranging for operator training to get the project off to a good start [Music] mission 5000 is going to be a success 5 000 communities will have to get organized heflin alabama already has this huge tract is the site of an old burning dump now eliminated and covered today heflin and cleburne county have undertaken an area-wide effort by starting a sanitary landfill jointly they bought equipment the county hired an operator who admitted he didn't know a landfill from a hole in the ground but he quickly learned the basic tricks of the trade a small landfill face proper compaction of the waste daily complete cover no waste motion the state solid waste officer calls him a jewel next the county will start a container collection system which promises to reduce roadside dumping and allow small rural dumps to be eliminated nearby troy alabama has closed its out-of-town dump and is filling this huge gully only four blocks from city hall it used to be called buzzard's roost and was 40 feet deep the key personality here is a city councilman who is a civil engineer by profession when interstate 75 was built through adele georgia the contractors purchased rights to strip material from nearby property as a result this 20-acre gravel pit was left in the middle of an industrial park adele's investigation showed that the pit was a good landfill site it took less than four months to put it into operation [Music] water pollution may result when drainage from open dumps reaches surface streams or groundwater supplies [Music] here a new landfill is being constructed in an area where geological studies indicated that surface water would leach through the buried refuse and carry pollutants into the groundwater the solution is to install an adequate drainage system to bypass surface water safely solid waste landfilling is an engineering project requiring careful design [Music] if you think that landfill techniques are restricted to the sunny south think again it is the accepted method in the colder sections of the country also solid wastes are collected in all weather and must be disposed of in the rain snow and even during periods when intense cold makes it uncomfortable for operators and freezes the surface of the ground [Music] [Music] mobile alabama once had one of the worst dumps in the country mobile now has a sanitary landfill which handles 400 tons a day the cost is about a dollar a ton including amortization of equipment but a dollar a ton is infinitely greater than nothing per ton and the city budget is feeling the pinch officials are reluctant to impose a special refuse disposal tax even though this is standard practice elsewhere they have increased charges to private operators who pay fees to use the site here a private operator is seeking approval to open his own landfill to serve his commercial customers he has obtained land use rights and needs only official sanction to start operating the result of this conference was that he can operate only if he lines the bottom of the pit with compacted clay to prevent pollutants from oozing through to the sand below public and private operations can be successfully coordinated the choice of whether a community wants to do its own solid waste collection and disposal or contract it out is an economic and political question not a technical one [Music] lawton oklahoma one of the first mission 5000 success stories may there be thousands of them [Laughter] [Music] lawton last year the people were starting to object the comanche county sanitarian was critical the oklahoma solid waste chief indicated that action was overdue [Music] the environmental protection agency regional representative in dallas suggested corrective action the pressure was beginning to build but lawton might have just drifted on for years if the oklahoma legislature hadn't stepped in it passed a law prohibiting open burning by cities of over ten thousand population by january first nineteen seventy one lawton was put on notice members of the city council started to look at other landfill operations investigated possible sites and authorized the city attorney to obtain land purchase options [Music] lawton today [Music] dump closed [Music] [Laughter] on january 19th just 19 days late burning finally ceased they would have made the deadline except for a few problems which had to be solved systematically the city council considered six landfill sites and held public hearings to select the best numerous nearby residents vigorously objected to having a dump near them the sanitarian satisfied some of the objections by establishing landfill specifications and operating procedures offense and beautification finally this site was selected it is two miles south of the city limits and is centrally located in the county other problems equipment was not delivered on time good operators were hard to find but today the lawton sanitary landfill second in the state of oklahoma is operating well the site is expected to last 12 to 14 years after completion it may be converted into an industrial or recreational park yes lawton did it made a quick switch from an obnoxious burning dump to a sound system of solid waste management thousands of communities throughout america have a comparable problem with today's increased emphasis on the environment each town city and county will have to face up to its true responsibility to be a good housekeeper in just two years mission 5000 should eliminate most of america's open dumps the ultimate goal of the environmental protection agency is to provide all americans with acceptable solid waste systems it sounds easy but actually it requires hard work and money you pay for a clean environment with your energy and your dollars but the question is can we really close those dumps it depends on local leadership not just officials but the citizens themselves mission 5000 is a now thing look around at your environment it's later than you think [Music] you