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Porter, Indiana
Porter County Rejects Landfill Near Indian Burial Mounds
by AP, The Associated Press
http://www.imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=10197
Valparaiso, Ind. (AP) _ Porter County officials have unanimously rejected a company's request to build a landfill in a rural area where Indian burial mounds are known to exist.
Tuesday night's vote against the project capped more than two months of intense debate over the landfill, which would have been built less than a mile from Boone Grove Middle School.
Porter Development LLC had asked the Board of Zoning Appeals for permission to build the landfill on a 353-acre farm near the town of Boone Grove. But environmental concerns doomed the project.
Citing academic and environmental studies, Board Chairman Jim Robertson said there was ample concern that leachate, a toxic liquid that oozes from landfills, could contaminate the region's groundwater.
Even a small amount of leachate could cause permanent groundwater damage in a region where wells are a primary source of drinking water, he said, noting that synthetic landfill liners cannot prevent all leaks.
Board member Robert Detert said he had no confidence in the developer's willingness to correct weaknesses in the development plan. He also said they offered no assurances that issues such as road damage from landfill trucks would be addressed if the petition were approved.
Another board member, Jim Robertson, said all the available scientific evidence shows that the site contains several ancient Indian burial mounds.
"We have Indian mounds that go back almost 2,000 years (at the site), and then we have a mound of garbage," he said.
After the vote, Porter Development's leaders said they will review the board's findings before deciding on a court challenge, which must be filed in 30 days.
"I'm always disappointed when I see a board make a decision we believe was contrary to the evidence," said attorney Todd Leeth.
Unless Porter Development can convince a court to overturn the board's decision, Tuesday's vote against the landfill stops the project.
That would be fine with Porter Township resident Jo Roeske and her husband, Ralph, who farms nearby land.
"We're happy. We hope it continues that way," said Jo Roeske, a teacher at Boone Grove Middle School.
The couple, who live within a mile of the landfill site, said their biggest concern was that the landfill would poison their wells.
Dan Whitten, an attorney for Porter Residents Opposed to Unsafe Dumps, said the zoning board did "a fantastic job."
"The documents we submitted clearly showed this should be denied," he said. "In my humble opinion, landfills belong in industrial areas."
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