Late last week, Governor Cooper vetoed the bill which would unwisely require the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to permit garbage fogging. (That鈥檚聽CIB鈥檚 name for the unproven technology for 鈥渁erosolization鈥� of leachate and wastewater from garbage landfills.)
HB 576, 鈥淎llow Aerosolization of Leachate,鈥� is based on the theory that taking the wastewater that collects at the bottom of landfills and misting it into the air will somehow make the pollution magically disappear. Sorry, guys, but misting a fine spray of garbage fog just evaporates some of the water. The contaminants settle right back onto the ground (or into a nearby surface water)鈥攑ossibly after drifting under neighbors鈥� noses.
Why mandate the approval of this process, then? It鈥檚 a patented process, so someone who owns the patent stands to benefit from new customers. Please excuse our cynicism in wondering whether that consideration may somehow factor in to the legislative decision.
In any event, in his veto message聽Gov. Cooper notes that scientists, not legislators, should be making the technical evaluations of whether such a process is a winner for North Carolina鈥檚 environment and public health. 鈥淪cientists, not the legislature, should decide whether a patented technology can safely dispose of contaminated liquids from landfills,鈥� declared Cooper.
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