CUMBERLAND, Va. -- Dozens of people signed up to speak about quality of life, traffic and environmental concerns in hopes of stopping a proposed landfill in Cumberland County,just north of Route 60.
"This is poison. I want to leave my land to my children," one citizen said.
"I didn't inherit a lot of money or a big name, but I did inherit the right to breathe clean air and drink clean water," another man added.
Kamoria Crews told the board that she feared for the safety of school children who catch the bus along Route 60. She expressed concerns that the large trucks hauling trash to the landfill might not see children or their parents waiting by the side of the road each day.
"Nobody has been considered. All you see is that $2.7 million carrot. But, is it worth a life?" Crews asked the Cumberland County Planning Commission.
The Senior Vice President of County Waste of Virginia, Jerry Cifor said their goal is to be a good neighbor, if approved.
He told CBS 6 News that if landowners are worried about well water being affected, they'll conduct well sampling and monitoring for adjacent properties.
Cifor added that the Green Ridge proposal includes noise and lighting limits, Route 60 improvements and focuses on eliminating odors.
"We are not taking in sludges or processed wallboards. Based on my thirty years of experience, we have been able to eliminate the items that cause the highest odor issues. I'm not saying the landfill won’t have some odor but we really have done everything to mitigate that," Cifor added.
Emotions ruled much of the evening as comments went well into the night. One woman told the crowd to be respectful.
"I’d like us to be civil even though we might disagree about the proposed landfill. We are still going to be neighbors."
Opponent Bill Bruce who has been leading the charge to get this landfill issue on the ballot for voters fired off question after question to the board. He asked supervisors to tell the crowd why the landfill proposal was seemingly fast tracked without neighbors getting all of the details.
Bruce, Jacqueline James and others are still moving forward with their push to get a referendum. So far, he says they have collected three hundred more than the required six hundred eighty signatures.
This week he submitted them to the court. A judge must now decide if the landfill question should be put to the voters on the ballot in November.
Four hours into Thursday night's meeting, the Cumberland Board of Supervisors continued to hear from the public on the company's conditional use permit application.
A vote was expected, but just before midnight it hadn't happened.
CBS 6 News will continue to follow this story and bring you the latest.
