{"id":21702,"date":"2017-07-07T09:19:27","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T13:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/?p=21702"},"modified":"2017-07-07T09:19:27","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T13:19:27","slug":"governor-cooper-vetoes-garbage-fog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/governor-cooper-vetoes-garbage-fog\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Cooper Vetoes Garbage Fog"},"content":{"rendered":"
Late last week, Governor Cooper vetoed the bill which would unwisely require the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to permit garbage fogging. (That\u2019s\u00a0CIB<\/em>\u2019s name for the unproven technology for \u201caerosolization\u201d of leachate and wastewater from garbage landfills.)<\/p>\n HB 576, \u201cAllow Aerosolization of Leachate,\u201d 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)\u2014possibly after drifting under neighbors\u2019 noses.<\/p>\n Why mandate the approval of this process, then? It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n In any event, in his veto message\u00a0Gov. Cooper notes that scientists, not legislators, should be making the technical evaluations of whether such a process is a winner for North Carolina\u2019s environment and public health. \u201cScientists, not the legislature, should decide whether a patented technology can safely dispose of contaminated liquids from landfills,\u201d declared Cooper.<\/p>\n