"We are Tired of being a Toxic Dumping Ground!"

July 9th, 2002

See Also:

7/10/02 Modesto Bee Press Coverage and Editorial

7/9/02 Modesto Bee Press Coverage

For more information, contact:

John Mataka Grayson Neighborhood Council	(209) 895-3352
Bradley Angel Greenaction	(415) 248-5010

Residents & Environmental Justice Groups Launch Fight to Stop County Plans to Build Giant Dump for Out-of-County Garbage and Sewage Sludge

Modesto, CA -- Stanislaus County residents and Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice held a press conference Tuesday in front of the City and County Government Building in Modesto (1010-10th Street) to launch an all-out fight against County government plans to turn the Fink Road landfill in Crow's Landing into a mega-dump for garbage and sewage sludge imported from far and wide.

Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will soon vote on the controversial proposal. Residents and environmental justice groups believe the EIR process has been inadequate and failed to address the serious health and environmental threats posed by the proposed dump expansion.

Two years ago residents and Greenaction defeated County plans to import and burn medical waste at the Waste-to-Energy plant in Crow's Landing. Residents and Greenaction will once again rally public opposition to County plans to dump dangerous wastes in our community.

• The proposed mega-dump would import garbage and toxic-contaminated sewage sludge from across the state and potentially other states.
• 99% of the garbage would come from outside the County.
• The dump would be one square mile in size and 650 feet high.
• Importing garbage and sewage sludge increases leakage and contamination risks.
• Truck traffic would increase significantly, harming our already poor air quality and threatening to increase the already epidemic rates of asthma in the County.
• Expansion not needed, as there is minimum of 42 years of capacity left for County garbage.

"I had hoped that the Board of Supervisors had learned their lesson with the medical waste issue, but evidently they did not," said John Mataka of the Grayson Neighborhood Council. "Stanislaus County residents value our health over profits."

"The health of my three children is more important than being the dumping ground for garbage from around the state and country," said Primavera Chavez, a resident of Patterson.

"The citizens of Modesto do not want our county to become the garbage dumping capital of California," said Kathleen Gaiser of Modesto.