LETTER – We need a grocery store, not a landfill

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, February 9, 2021

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To the Editor:

Don’t let the $$ fool you. What is it going to cost to repair the road damage caused by large trucks hauling 3,500 tons of trash daily; in litigation and property repair or replacement when any of these trucks are involved in accidents with public vehicles and school buses; to remedy the land and water pollution that this proposed 1,200-acre mega landfill is going to create?

How many Cumberland County residents will be hired for the 78 temporary construction jobs; for the 34 full-time jobs? How many of the 14 and 17 indirect and induced economic activity positions will be only part-time and temporary, and will be filled with Cumberland residents? What are the wages and benefits for all these employees? How many of the 34 full-time jobs are truck drivers?

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After construction, Green Ridge $$ goes into the county coffers, not into the pockets of residents who need jobs and an income to pay their rent/ mortgage, food, clothing, transportation and health care. The best economic tool for Cumberland is well-paid jobs for their residents, not a mega landfill for other states’ trash. Ask yourself, is this deal good for the residents or good for Green Ridge?

Cumberland is a food desert. Residents have long asked for a grocery store. A grocery store will employ local residents and save them time and money from not having to travel so far out of the county to get groceries. Why haven’t county supervisors brought in a grocery store?

Trudy Berry

Green Bay