The judges have made their preliminary ruling public and it is not good news for the citizens opposing the landfill expansion!

Despite the outpouring of public feelings...
without regard to the numerous resolutions of opposition...
blind to the impact on the lives of the people surrounding the landfill...

the Administrative Law Judges have ruled in favor of permitting the landfill.  Why?  because in their opinion, BFI has followed the letter of the law and operated within the requirements of the TNRCC.

Then perhaps, we should change the laws or dissolve the TNRCC.

You need only to look at some of the highlights of the hearings to see where the law is without compassion or where the TNRCC's rules are short-sighted.

You can download the documents (in PDF format) in their entirety by clicking on the links below.

And now for some of the highlights:

The following set of "Facts" are from the statement of facts section.  These facts appear to contradict.

• Randolph AFB is in the top three Air Force bases worldwide in terms of the greatest number of airplane strikes with vultures, a bird commonly associated with landfills. (Tr. 892:13-17).
• Ninety-Two (92) percent of bird strikes associated with Randolph AFB involve birds not generally found in a landfill environment. (Tr. 1654:2-17).
• One Hundred (100) percent of the types of birds involved in bird strikes associated with Randolph AFB typically occur in base habitats. (Tr. 1654:18-24).

The next statement is from the facts section as well.  "Site" refers to the landfill.

• The City of San Antonio is the nearest community to the site.

Legally San Antonio is the nearest community to this site--only because San Antonio annexed the site leaving the city boundaries virtually on the property lines of the dump.  If it hadn't--China Grove, Martinez, and Gardendale would be the nearest communities.

Imagine the truck smog, traffic, and trash from the following:

• In 1995, approximately 490 vehicles entered the Landfill each day (980 trips in and out). This traffic is projected to increase at the same rate as the population of Bexar County. Landfill traffic is estimated at 2,950 trips per day in the final year of operation. (Ex. A-20, pp. II-11 through II-13).

Imagine a truck entering and leaving the Tessman Landfill every 12 seconds!  This would go on for 10 hours a day assuming a 10 hour work day.  This number is projected on Bexar County growth.  We already know that BFI has permitted to accept waste from Mexico and several other Texas counties.  As crazy as it sounds, I think we will see many more trucks than BFI has estimated.

Leachate is the most chemically polluted substance created by a landfill.  This substance contains the same pollutants found in waste classified as Hazardous Materials.  Every landfill creates leachate and it is a primary source of water contanination when it leaks from a landfill.  Read the following statement of fact.

• Disposal of leachate, gas condensate, and contaminated water may be accomplished by one or more methods which include: (1) discharge from the authorized POTW or commercial treatment facility of treated effluent in accordance with existing NPDES permits, other required discharge permits, and applicable pretreatment standards; (2) discharge from an on-site treatment facility in accordance with NPDES permits and other required permits; (3) recirculation or re-introduction of collected liquid (excluding contaminated water) into the waste mass in accordance with procedures specified in the Application; (4) evaporation of collected liquid; and (5) solidification of leachate and disposal of solidified material in the Landfill. Initially, leachate will be managed through recirculation and solidification. (Ex. AA-1, pp. 57:34-39, 58:1-8; Ex. A-49, Section 5.4, pp. ATT15-14 and ATT15-15).

It appears as though BFI plans to treat the leachate by reintroducing it into the landfill!  We already know that there is no landfill that will not leak over time.  Surely this process of leachate control needs to be improved! 

Stay tuned--there is more to come.