To the editors:
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Harold Henderson’s story [“What a Waste!” September 28] pretty well documents the dynamics of the negotiation breakdown between Chicago area environmental activists and the business community, but left out a few crucial facts which could have helped readers judge who was being unreasonable. The people who are fighting landfill and incineration sitings aren’t exactly afraid of the unknown. Perhaps if Henderson had a background in environmental science, he might have thought it important to include toxicologists’ reports on bacteria from leachate in water recharge areas around landfills, or reports on what people who live and work within five miles of incinerators are breathing. It’s as though Henderson didn’t want to confuse us with “the facts,” and reporting on communication breakdown and self-righteousness was dramatic enough.
I’d gladly do without nail polish remover, toilet cleaner, bug spray, furniture polish, hair dye, and disposable batteries if I knew I’d be drinking them a few years after they leaked out of a landfill. Wouldn’t you? Or are we so neurotic that we’ll freak out if we have to actually think about the poisonous wastes we generate and what to do with them? The business community is very happy about the EPA’s RCRA: that is, having household waste classified as “non-hazardous.”
