Reflections on the hearing...

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Tuesday night's Illinois Environmental Protection Agency public hearing into the close of the  now infamous L & L Landfill is that it took less time than approval of the minutes at a Village Board meeting.

I don't think there was anything new revealed -- but that's OK -- because while many, if not all, of the opponents to L & L had stated their positions before, but not to the IEPA, the Village Board.  There was, in essence, 40 minutes of testimony by residents and experts, some of them self-proclaimed, about the fears of maintaining L & L, while others cited the need for development of the site within environmental guidelines.

Each speaker had three minutes to address the panel.  Only one (guess who?) came back up for an encore.

The crowd was pretty much as I anticipated, which could mean one of two things -- people are not interested, or the topic has worn itself down.  No matter what your view is on the topic, it is pretty disappointing that more residents are not concerned about an issue -- any issue.  Why?  Who knows?

You could speculate that folks living away from L & L have the "it's not near me, what do I care" attitude, or some may have said "Oh, it's Lisa Stone's special interest, who cares"  Again, who knows.
Was it worth televising?  Not really.  There were no startling revelations.  Residents interested in what was said can get the complete transcript of record from the IEPA in about 2 1/2 weeks.

Did testimony reveal any new information?  Not really.

Arguments against 'certification of completion of post closure care" focused on the state of the ground water and presence of Phenol at the facility.

Arguments support the certification cited compliance with IEPA, EPA and Lake County guidelines so the site can be commercially developed.

On supporter said development of the site was necessary because of high unemployment and the need to put men and women back to work.  That's an admirable goal, but I don't think you ignore citizen concerns just for jobs.

The fact remains that the IEPA has heard from both sides of aisle and will continue to take comments until one second before midnight on Dec. 9.  Odds are it will not be a popular decision.

Residents can still be heard.

Comments may be sent by email to epa.publichearingcom@illinois.gov.  Make sure your subject line clearly says "Land and Lakes Wheeling Landfill."  Further information is also available Dean Studer, Hearing Office  (#5) at Dean.Studer@illinois.gov or Tammy Mitchell, community relations coordinator at  tammy,Mitchell@illinois.gov.

Email or hard copy submitted before the Dec. 9 deadline will be entered into the record.

What will be determined is scheduled to be announced on Jan. 15.  What happens after that depends on the decision and how people react.  If the certificate is approved, then it's possible, even likely, that development of the site will move forward.  But like the development of any landfill site -- whether in Northbrook, Evanston, Highland Park or Arlington Heights, monitoring should continue.

Those aforementioned cities have handled development of landfill and it seems logical that Buffalo Grove can do the same.

Only time will tell.