Largest Landfill in North America - Allegan County by Pat Foster
Since 2006, I have been fighting against the use of land in Lee and Clyde townships to be used as a landfill. My first vision was a landfill from Baseline Road to 118th Street, and 58th Street to 60th Street. I was able to stop the intentional pollution of land over there by the dredging of arsenic out of Lower Scott Lake by having the test wells checked and the water tested over 10x the safe level for drinking. It was a super cleanup. To date, they have done nothing regarding my investigation.
Now we find that extremely large tracks of land under the control of the Department of Natural Resources have been clear cut with no indication of replanting. If you look at the pictures of these areas from Google Earth, you have to ask yourself a simple question: Why would an agency of government with the responsibility of preserving resources destroy them? I have slept on this many nights, and have come to the conclusion that the landfill was never intended to be just 2 miles wide x 10 miles long. The plan was to make the entire Allegan Game Reserve and everything around it the largest landfill in North America.
At this point, this is only a theory, but I offer the following facts to support that theory:
1.
The major state political issue of the day is a new bridge to Canada with Canada being very generous to us in financing it. This would again increase the capacity to send Canadian garbage to Michigan.
2.
There was a lot of animosity against me by local Democrats in 2006 and 2008 when I was running for county offices as a Democrat with this landfill being a major issue. I always felt there was money behind the scenes that wanted this issue gone along with me.
3.
The CSX RR has put up a RR crossing gates at 113th Street, which currently has only minor traffic, while 118th Street has major traffic, and only lights to stop the flow of traffic. The RR continues working on the tracks in that area. Something is happening!
If I am correct, it would explain McCendon’s eagerness to get the Dennison property in the Suagatuck Dunes developed and sold. Who is going to want to pay a million dollars for a home there if they are sitting a few miles from a huge landfill? He needs to develop this property quickly and sell it, or he will lose big time. No tears from me.
The Cities of South Haven, Saugatuck, Douglas, and Allegan along with all the open land between them will be directly affected by such a development. Levels of water, air, and land pollution will skyrocket along with the diseases that kill people from these pollutants.
As citizens of Michigan, you need to keep these questions in mind, and talk about them at every opportunity you have, or you may see the last natural area in Southern Michigan destroyed by politicians and corporations. Your homes and your lives are at risk. You can start by leaving your comments below.