Farmers in Massey say they never thought the Kent County Commissioners would ever consider approving of a 400 acre rubble-fill in the County that would take in 1,200 tons of waste each day from other states, where approval for similar sites has become nearly impossible.
“If this was a good thing, why wouldn’t New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania host the site,” said Robert Dann of Massey, whose property adjoins the Alexander farm where the site is proposed. “We aren’t going to generate enough rubble in Kent County to justify a hole that big, and why would you need a liner in the ground if there’s nothing wrong with the stuff they say they’re putting in there. They say this is new technology but other liners have failed. Do we want to test that here in our own back yard?”
Residents say the site will alter the landscape forever and threaten the ground water of neighboring farms and the Sassafras River. Some residents harbor bitterness towards the Alexanders, who sought and got support from the community to transform their farm into a sand and gravel pit–and then later a fish farm. But the vision has been drastically altered, and the Alexanders now seek a permit to accept numerous truckloads of waste each day–mostly from northeast states.
“My father-in-law supported the Alexanders in getting a permit to operate a gravel pit five years ago,” Dann said. “It was his understanding that the mountain of sand we see from our home would disappear over time when it became a fish farm, now it’s actually become larger…I’m looking for the [Commissioners] to use some common sense and not consider so much the money–and keep Kent County the way it’s supposed to be, a rural agricultural community. This [rubble-fill] is an attack on a rural part of Maryland by outsiders.”
Dann and his wife, Leelee, said they never would have invested in building their new home five years ago, which uses wind and solar power to help reduce environment impact, if they’d known the Alexanders would alter the original plans in favor of a “massive” rubble site. They fear the value of their 200 acre farm, passed down through generations of Leelee’s family, could plummet, even though the developer, Kent Recycling & Land Reclamation, has offered to buy adjoining property at the 2011 appraised value.
“I think we should be looking at what the Alexanders are being paid for their ground,” Dann said. “They told us this was a ‘home run’ for them.”
Dann says the quality of life in Massey will be downgraded by a large increase in truck traffic, and he believes trucks arriving after operating hours could illegally dump in the community.
“It’s going to be outrageous,” Dann said. “[Trucks could] easily pull down some of our back lanes after hours and [dump illegally]…It’s happened on our farm in Chesapeake City.”
Dann questioned the usefulness of a proposed drop-off recycling center at the site, which the developer has offered as a carrot in gaining approval. Dann says the recycling station would be located in the far north of the county–far away from more populated areas. He also says that even limited use of the recycling center will create an abundance of roadside litter along his road.
“We saw a nice little sketch of where they’re going put a recycling center for the community of Kent County, but we’re in the far end of the County,” Dann said. “It’s not convenient for the people of Chestertown, where the majority of people live, and anybody who brings recycling in the back of a pickup truck is going to have stuff blowing out the back. I’m going to be picking more trash off my road than I do now with the regular traffic that comes through.”
John Massey, whose property also adjoins the rubble-fill site, said the current proposal was never part of the original plan, and he is concerned about the safety of his grand children when they come out to play on the farm.
“I don’t want to worry about what their getting into or what is getting into them,” Massey said.
The Sassafrass River Association submitted a petition to the Commissioners on August 26–urging them to vote against the rubble-fill.
“Thank you for extending, for one week, the public comment period on the Developer’s Rights and Responsibilities Agreement for the proposed rubble-fill on the Alexander Farm in the headwaters of the Sassafras River in northern Kent County.”
“The Sassafras River Association has been able to assemble the enclosed petitions expressing citizens’ opposition to the proposed construction debris rubble-fill. Despite the limited time available, SRA was able to collect 499 signatures expressing opposition to this project. Approximately 476 of those are signatures of Kent County residents and/or property owners. The remaining signatures are from those in surrounding counties, who visit, recreate or otherwise have expressed serious concern with the rubble-fill project. With more time, we could have amassed even greater numbers of signatures among the Kent County voters.”
“Thank you in advance for your consideration of this expression of local public opinion on this matter. We ask that you reject the proposed agreement as inconsistent with Kent County’s values.”
A vote to approve the rubble-fill site could come as early as September 13, according Sassafras River Association Executive Director Moira Croghan.
The Spy sought comment from Samuel Alexander at the August 19 Commissioner’s meeting, where he indicated he would have no comment on the matter.
Joan Smith says
This is outrageous, and we deeply hope — and have faith — that the Kent County commissioners, who must love this place as much as the rest of us do, will vote against it.
barbara snyder says
Does “Chestertown Green” not extend to the County?
Warrior Bob Kramer says
Dump the Dump.
It’s that simple… unless it is all about the money.
Then it’s… Dump the Money.
John says
While i agree with most of Mr. Dann’s point, we DO need more recycling facilities in the “far ends” of the County. The people of Chestertown still have curbside pickup. The rest of must drive to Worton Park or to Dump. Perhaps the Alexanders will install a drop-off site no matter which way the vote goes.
Karl Zierfuss says
The county is broke. An eventual landfill of some sort is inevitable in this county. Eventually it will be mandated by a higher power on the state or federal level and it may end up in a much more intrusive area of the county. If Kent County views itself as a leader in environmental and rural preservation then it should take this as a chance to show the rest of the state and area how to accept but control and contain a site like this. Ironically the revenue for the county might help keep our property taxes down helping land owners to keep their farms in tact further preserving our rural and agricultural image and area.
Farmer Boy says
Don’t sweat this folks. Commissioners Fithian and Rasin know this would be political genocide to their local support as well as to their tenure and legacy in Kent County. They know local interests (especially the Bay and our rivers) come well before party talking points. Only the local party extremists who don’t care about leaving a legacy of outsiders carcinogenic trash dumped in our iconic county are making noise on this. These kooks embarrass me as a KCR.
Keith Thompson says
@Farmer Boy
Which local party extremists are you referring to? I’ve actually heard “extremists” on both sides of the political aisle who are vehemently against the rubble fill. I’m not convinced this is a partisan issue that neatly follows the talking points of both major parties.
Lainey says
Karl,
I see the opposite end of your argument. Should governments decide that waste facilities are needed, they should be within one’s own state. Clean up your own backyard, so to speak. Kent county landfills should take care of Kent County waste. I dont believe, except for the recycling piece, that much of the waste will come from the State of Maryland, let alone Kent county. Why do you want New York and New Jersey trash in Kent county?
Being as I have argued with Stella L to keep her opinion out of the QAC big box debate and leave it to the QAC taxpayers, that is really all I will say on this topic, but my argument in both topics is the same. I will take care of my backyard, you take care of yours.
Good luck with this debate Kent county folks. Im glad my debate is just over a big box store, not an out of state trash facility.
Marge says
It’s deja vu all over again (as a certain person put it). The similarities to the 1988 local battle over the desire of an out-of-state waste disposal company (Wheelabrator) to locate a waste incinerator in Kent Co. (mostly to dispose of non-local trash) are striking. Local people protested in such great numbers and with persistence that the county commissioners at the time (one of whom is again a commissioner) finally realized that the “will of the people” was to reject the imposition of such a facility here. The reasons for opposing the present proposal are about the same as they were in 1988, but it seems that some today don’t remember the 1988 situation, weren’t living here then, or were too young to be aware of or involved in the issue.
All I could find online about the 1988 proposal and local resistance is this article in the NY Times (which, like the Washington Post, typically gets things a little wrong). I posted this in a previous thread (Bryan Matthews’ letter to the editor opposing the rubble-fill dump), but perhaps so late that Spy readers already had stopped checking that thread for new comments. So here it is again:
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/21/us/incinerator-plan-fans-town-dispute.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm
If in the 1970s local citizens could stop a nuclear power plant from locating in Kent Co. and in 1988 stop the waste incinerator, we certainly ought to be able to unite again to defeat this current proposal. We certainly shouldn’t roll over and play dead, thinking that such harmful projects are inevitable here. They are not if many speak up. Also, it should be noted that this is not a political-party issue, nor was it with the nuclear plant or incinerator.
Stellal says
Maybe someone will educate Lainey: be it rubble-fill or anachronistic big box stores, it effects us all…even those who think they live on their own little “island”.