Update Public Hearing for DuPont landfill
TEC along with Sierra club and United Steel Workers testified during a public hearing regarding the modification of Dupont landfill at their New Johnsonville facility. TEC has been involved in waste issues regarding the New Johnsonville facility since the early 1990s. John Sherman, one of TEC’s past Executive Directors worked tirelessly to try to stop Dupont and others in Tennessee from injecting waste deep below the earth’s surface. TEC’s current Executive Director, John McFadden testified about waste management at the facility. TEC’s main thrust was to ask a number of questions that should be answered through the regulatory process. For example, has the iron rich material (IRM) waste stream been sufficiently characterized? This is a key question, as one cannot design a waste management strategy or system without knowing what is in the waste. The waste appears to be hazardous based on a 2001 EPA survey – finding numerous metals, and dioxins. Other TEC questions asked included one’s addressing groundwater monitoring and contamination. At one time, half of Tennessee’s population and everyone from West Tennessee got their drinking water from the groundwater – making it an irreplaceable resource.
It is also a concern for TEC and local residents that Humphrey County and several other near by counties have high cancer rates. It tends to be counties along the Tennessee River, making for a possible environmental link. Look for further updates in the TEN.
An "Independent study" of DuPont's Edge Moor, Delaware, Dioxin Pile has been released by Delaware regulators