NEW: Sen. Tassoni Wants Johnston Landfill Odor Addressed
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, North Smithfield) is calling on the governor and officials at the Department of Environmental Management to take immediate action to quell the foul odors emanating from the Central Landfill in Johnston.
After a weekend of calls and complaints from his constituents about the foul odor – which first began to be noticed earlier this month – Senator Tassoni is also calling on the RI Resource Recovery Corporation to hold an emergency meeting of its board of directors to address and resolve the issue.
“All of us realize that landfills occasionally give off odors, but this situation has gone on long enough,” said Senator Tassoni. “Whatever is being done to address it is not enough and not quickly enough. Perhaps it was because of the relatively warm weather the past few days, but whatever the reason, the odors have been horrendous and are continuing and as a result, many, many of my constituents in Smithfield contacted me this weekend to voice their disgust and concern.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe DEM met with RIRRC earlier this month, informing the landfill operators that the stench was violating air pollution regulations. RIRRC officials promised to address the matter by using soil to cap more of the landfill, by installing more gas-collection wells and by working to clear flooded gas-collection pipes and well.
“Apparently, those efforts were not done properly or were not effective enough, based on the odors evident this weekend in the Smithfield area and the number of calls I received,” said Senator Tassoni. “RIRRC may be assuring everyone that they are doing everything they can to fix this situation, but obviously they are not.”
“People living near landfills understand they will occasionally have to deal with odors, just like people living near airports understand they will have to occasionally have to deal with noise issues,” said Senator Tassoni. “But after all this time, it is clear that RIRRC is not doing enough to fix this, and these horrendous odors are affecting the health and well-being of many people. People have a right to live in their homes in relative comfort, but these odors are preventing them from doing so.”
Senator Tassoni said he plans to contact the governor’s office about the matter “because, if RIRRC is not going to respond quickly and effectively, the governor needs to order them to do so.”
