Greensboro residents sue to stop landfill action; city responds
Posted 01 June 2011, by Amanda Lehmert, News & Record, news-record.com
GREENSBORO — Five residents and two advocacy groups will seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the City Council from signing a landfill contract, according to a suit filed Tuesday in Guilford County Superior Court.
Citizens for Economic and Environmental Justice, the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad and White Street Landfill-area property owners sued the City Council. The suit asks that the council be ordered to comply with a state law that requires a city to consider alternative locations before choosing a site for a new landfill.
The council is poised to hire a company to run the White Street Landfill — and possibly add new trash sites there.
“We don’t think the Greensboro City Council has done the due diligence that is required by statue before they burden this community with another sanitary landfill,” said Chris Brook, a Southern Coalition for Social Justice attorney who is representing the plaintiffs.
City Manager Rashad Young said the city has not yet sought to identify new landfill locations, so the requirements in the law do not apply.
Superior Court Judge Patrice Hinnant will consider issuing the restraining order today, Brook said. The hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. in the judge’s chambers. Attorneys for both sides said they did not ask for the hearing to be closed to the public.
Last month, a split City Council agreed to enter contract negotiations with two companies, Waste Industries and Gate City Waste Services. Both would start taking garbage to the city-owned landfill, which was closed to household trash in 2006.
The council is scheduled to hire one of the companies later this month for a term of 15 to 30 years.
During the life of the contract, the city would have to open new areas on the White Street Landfill property if it wants to continue putting trash there.
That would trigger state laws that require cities to study socioeconomic and demographic data, consider other possible landfill locations, and host a public hearing on the issue.
The lawsuit argues that the city should do those things before signing a landfill contract — and that so far the council has not done so.
The neighbors and advocacy groups want to prevent the city from entering a contract that would result in future phases of the landfill, Brook said.
Young said it’s “a little far-fetched” to say that a long-term contract means the city is seeking to expand White Street.
“We haven’t yet negotiated anything related to that aspect with either firm,” he said.
“The law doesn’t require these procedural steps for contemplation,” the city manager said.
The city today released this statement from City Manager Rashad Young:
“We were made aware of the temporary restraining order and the injunction fillings late yesterday. Outside counsel will represent the City’s position in front of Judge Patrice Hinnant today. The City will always follow the letter of the law, but at this point, no contract has been signed and no agreements have been made.
“Our staff is continuing to follow the process that has been mapped out by Council and is reviewing contract terms with two companies — Waste Industries and Gate City Waste Services — that could potentially manage all of the City’s waste services. City staff is set to present clarification of those terms and potential contract details to City Council by June 21. Ultimately, City Council will decide to enter into a contract with one of those companies or not enter into a contract with either.
“Members of the City’s executive and legal teams are monitoring this issue closely. However, all decisions on the future of Greensboro’s waste services will be made by City Council.”
Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Tornadoes roared through Massachusetts on Wednesday, as violent winds caused damage in about two dozen communities, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees, scattering debris and leaving at least four dead throughout the state.
The storm pulverized or sheared off the tops of roofs on Main Street in Springfield, a city of more than 150,000 about 90 miles west of Boston. A mounted video camera captured dramatic footage of a debris-filled funnel as it swept into downtown from the west, then crossed the Connecticut River.
“Everything started shaking. The whole building was shaking,” said Shonda Lopez, who was at home when the tornado struck.
Lopez’ sister, Margaret Alexander, hid in a closet in her apartment during the storm. She and 15 family members, including a daughter, two granddaughters and the family dog, Sasha, in a crate later went to the MassMutual Center, a cavernous event center in downtown Springfield that was converted into an emergency shelter.
Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and called up 1,000 National Guardsmen after the storms, which brought scenes of devastation more familiar in the South and Midwest to a part of the country where such violent weather isn’t a way of life.
The governor said the death toll was preliminary and police and firefighters were going door to door in Springfield to assure that no one was trapped in damaged buildings.
Massachusetts hasn’t experienced a tornado since 2008, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. The state normally averages about two per year.
The last killer tornado in Massachusetts was on May 29, 1995, when three people died in Great Barrington, a town along the New York state border. The state’s deadliest recorded tornado on June 9, 1953, killed 94 people in the Worcester area.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said more than 40 people were admitted to hospitals in the city after Wednesday’s tornado. State police said at least 5 people were seriously injured and required surgery.
The storms tore a swath of damage through 19 communities, including several small towns in western and central Massachusetts.
“I can see the plywood of roofs, and see houses where most of the house is gone,” said the Rev. Bob Marrone of The First Church of Monson, which had its steeple toppled by a tornado.
“The road that runs up in front of my house … There’s so many trees down, it’s completely impassable,” he said.
In Sturbridge, at the junction of the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 84, a half-mile section of Main Street was shut down after a tornado damaged homes and felled trees, according to town administrator Shaun Suhoski.
Suhoski said some people suffered “cuts, scrapes, bruises,” though no serious injuries were immediately reported. The storm blew trees into houses and severely damaged telephone poles and rooftops, he said.
“It was a pretty heavy assault from the storm system and we’re trying to dig out and assess it right now,” Suhoski said.
Two people were killed in West Springfield, one in Springfield and another in Brimfield, according to Patrick, who did not immediately know the circumstances of the deaths.
The storm hit as workers were starting the evening commute home. Police closed some highway ramps leading into Springfield.
Thomas Walsh, a spokesman for Sarno, told The Associated Press he was looking out his City Hall window around 4:30 p.m. when he saw the funnel.
“I could see this massive cloud of debris floating around in a circular, cylindrical fashion,” he said.
Upstairs at the Mass Mutual Center, seniors from Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham dressed in gowns and tuxedos arrived for their prom, which went on as scheduled despite the tornado.
Jola Wnuk said she almost didn’t attend because of the weather. But her mother persuaded her to go. “She said it’s once in a lifetime,” Wnuk said.
Photographers hired for the prom said they had a frightening view of the tornado just outside the center’s ceiling-to-floor windows.
“It looked like birds were flying out of the trees and it was rubble,” said Martha Vachon of Photography by Duval of Palmer.
The storm knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers. Crews from utilities in Connecticut and New Hampshire were called in to help restore service.
Among the injured in Springfield was a retired priest, according to a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. The priest was living at St. Michael’s Retired Priest Residence, which was damaged by the tornado.
A tornado watch had been issued earlier for much of the East Coast, including Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
Bob Pashko, of West Springfield, said he was returning from his doctor’s office when the storm started and he went to a downtown bar in Springfield to wait for a ride.
“The next thing you know, the TV says a tornado hit the railroad bridge in West Springfield,” Pashko said. “It’s the baddest I’ve seen.”
At the bar, Pashko said, the owner told people to get away from the window as patrons saw the storm on TV.
“To see it live on TV when I’m five football fields away is better than being outside,” the 50-year-old Pashko said.
Members of the state’s congressional delegation said they would seek federal assistance for storm-damaged areas.
Patrick said there was extensive damage in Hampden County, especially to homes and other structures. He asked superintendents in the 19 affected communities to cancel school Thursday and also told non-essential state employees in counties impacted by the storms to stay home.
The governor also said he had preliminary reports of some looting in downtown Springfield. He said that looting tapered off as heavy rains set in. The State Police secured the area. There were no looting arrests reported.
Patrick said the damage has hit home for him and Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray. Murray is the former mayor of Worcester and Patrick owns a home in western Massachusetts.
“These are my neighbors and my friends, too; the lieutenant governor’s as well,” Patrick said. “We’re worried about our friends and neighbors, our fellow citizens in western Massachusetts who have been affected by this terrible tragedy.”
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Associated Press writers Russell Contreras, Bob Salsberg, Jay Lindsay, Sylvia Wingfield, Rodrique Ngowi and Steve LeBlanc in Boston, and Kristi Eaton in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
