March 9, 2013
John Hale,
Permit Manager
Indiana
Department of Environmental Management Solid Waste Permits MC 65-45, IGCN 1101
100 North
Senate Avenue
Indianapolis,
IN 46204-2251
Dear Mr. Hale,
I am writing
to voice my concerns about the proposed Vernal Pike Transfer & Recycling
facility located on Vernal Pike in Bloomington, Indiana. In my opinion I do not understand why anyone
would want to live in close proximity to a trash transfer station since
according to the Carbondale, Colorado study this is considered a “noxious” land
use. The location of this proposed
facility makes it completely unacceptable considering the following facts.
1) The present business at JB
Salvage is completely surrounded by a RS zone.
The surrounding properties are not only residential, but they are also
low income, high density residential with compact urban form. There are 3 gov’t subsidized housing developments
in close proximity to the proposed facility.
2) There are three schools and
a fourth (dance school) also within close proximity
3) The City of Bloomington has
denied City Transit bus services to this area because of the “geometry of the infrastructure
in the area”. Because of two railroad
crossings and low train trestles X 2, the City felt the buses would not be able
to maneuver through this area. At the
same time, large semi-trucks with long wheel bases would be unable to get over
the two railroad crossings without bottoming-out.
4) When I-69 changes take
place, the Vernal Pike exit to now Hwy. 37 will be closed. The ONLY exit will be through a core
neighborhood with inadequate infrastructure (2 street lights, few sidewalks,
narrow streets). People often walk in
the road/street because there are few places to even get off of the street and
at night, because we don’t have street lights, it is nearly impossible to see
pedestrians.
5) Our neighborhood will likely
experience depreciation of property values.
The Carbondale study states properties within 1 mi of the facility will
be depreciated.
6) We are concerned with the
exhaust fumes from diesel trucks moving the trash and from other trucks
delivering the 100 tons per day of solid waste to the facility.
7) We fear that there will be
lots of litter/road trash blowing from uncovered or unsecured materials going
to the station.
8) We choose not to deal with
the extra accidents that will certainly occur in front of our homes on W. 17th
where there is a blind intersection (Lindburgh & W.17th St.) at
the bottom of a steep hill. There are
always many accidents on this hill especially in inclement weather.
9) We invested lots of money in
our home and property this summer. We
own 3.4 acres within city limits and two
homes. We have a pond and our back yard
looks as if we live in the country. We
want to be able to enjoy our yard and natural sounds such as birds, without the
sounds of reverse alarms on trucks dumping trash, clanging and banging of
materials hitting the floor of the trash and recycling facility, the stench and
increase in particulate matter in the air which is harmful to our health,
increase risk of vectors and even accidental spills that might be
environmentally harmful.
Bottom
line……we do not want to live next to a trash transfer station and experience
all of the detrimental side effects that will certainly come from this noxious
land use. Please do not approve this
permit……..we BEG you. We feel that this
proposed facility will be detrimental to our health and safety as well as that
of our neighborhood residents.
Respectfully,
March
10, 2013
John Hale, Permit Manager
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
Solid Waste Permits
MC 65-45, IGCN 1101
100 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2251
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
Solid Waste Permits
MC 65-45, IGCN 1101
100 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2251
Dear Mr. Hale,
I am writing to you today with my deep concern about the
proposed Waste Transfer Station on Bloomington’s Near West Side.
My wife and I are currently living on the near west side,
within a half mile from the proposed JB Salvage WTS expansion. We have built a LEED Platinum certified
(2010) home here, in the spirit of revitalizing this neighborhood that has a
history of suffering environmental abuse, including super-fund sites such as
Fell Iron and Metal. The history of
using economically and racially diverse distressed neighborhoods as a dumping ground for waste is well
documented. In fact, the EPA has studied
this problem, and there are materials that address this issue, such as,
A Response to a Recurring
Environmental Justice Circumstance:
The Siting of
Waste Transfer Stations in Low-Income Communities and Communities of Color
My wife and I, along with the Near West Side Neighborhood
Association, Crescent Bend Neighborhood
Association, Prospect Hill N.A., Maple Heights N.A., Mayor Mark Kruzan and the
City Council of Bloomington, all oppose the proposed location of a WTS in our
residential neighborhood. We strongly
support recycling and progressive solutions that will eventually create a
zero-waste Bloomington, however, and look forward to the design and future
deployment of creative strategies for this goal.
Thanks for all of your great work!
David Gulyas
ASID, LEED AP
908 West 8th Street
Bloomington, IN
47404
davidgulyasdesign@gmail.com
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