Call to Action: Attend the upcoming hearings on April 28th and May 5th ! They're being held at Marin County Civic Center Room 330 at 1pm.

On April 17th at Green Fusion Design Center, Sustainable Fairfax in collaboration with Sustainable San Rafael, Sustainable Novato, Sustainable Marin and the Green Coalition hosted a discussion about the state of the Redwood Landfill.

Marin County's Redwood Landfill has accelerated turning the landfill into a regional dump, with over half the trash coming from outside the county. The county is considering an expansion, rather than more diversion programs. Citizens are concerned about the impacts on the local environment. The location of the facility has resulted in serious concerns in the areas of air quality, plant and animal habitat, and impacts to surface and subsurface water.

The event was a week before the Marin County Planning Commission public hearings about the Redwood Landfill expansion on April 28th and May 5th. Participants were encouraged to attend both of these hearings.

The panel discussion was led by three local sustainability experts:

Kiki La Porta Co-founder and Co-chair of Sustainable San Rafael, President of Sustainable Marin and the Green Coalition strategic team. Kiki is also founder of Descom, a local company specializing in branding, marketing advertising design and consulting services.

Sue Brown Marin resident for over forty years, she is on Ross Valley Sanitary District Board of Directors and also serves as the President. Sue is also a Commissioner for the Central Marin Sanitation Agency and a Director for North Bay Watershed Association.

Bruce Baum Co-chair of the No-Wetlands Landfill Expansion and Green Coalition strategic team. Bruce worked with Fairfax Planning Commission in March 2006 and the Fairfax Town Council in 2007 to help Fairfax pass the first Zero Waste Resolution in Marin.

HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS OF REDWOOD LANDFILL 

The Redwood Landfill was built in 1958 on historic Bay Wetlands in the Petaluma Marsh just north of Novato and is surrounded on three sides by water, right next to San Antonio Creek, between two earthquake faults (there is a 99% probability that there will be a 6.5 or more earthquake within the next 30 years), in a flood plain, and in some places, in contact with ground water. (56% of the garbage that is dumped there does not come from Marin County, but from Sonoma County). As long as Marin and Sonoma counties produce waste we will need an adequate/appropriate place to put it. 

“If proposed today as a new facility in California, Redwood Sanitary Landfill would not have been located in such an environmentally sensitive wetland as it is now situated. The unfortunate location of the facility has resulted in serious concerns in the areas of air quality, plant and animal habitat, and impacts to surface and subsurface water.”

- The California Integrated Waste Management Board 
 

IMPORTANT UPCOMING HEARING: 

REDWOOD LANDFILL EXPANSION ISSUES

Marin County Civic Center, Room 330

Public Hearings on Mon April 28 and Mon May 5 at 1:00 pm 

Join THE GREEN COALITION (which represents 25 major environmental, health and social justice groups in Marin and Sonoma counties) as they present their FOUR PRINCIPALS (see greencoalitionmarin.org) before the Marin County Planning Commission which they feel must be addressed in the Environmental Impact Report and the Expansion Permit BEFORE any decisions can be made: 

1. Marin must ban green and organic waste from the dump, and convert it to a resource in a manner that reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Marin must insist on strong earthquake, groundwater, and flood protections at the dump.
3. Adopt a mitigation fee to discourage waste, to fund zero waste initiatives, and to pay for an independent monitor who reports to the community.
4. Insist on a real financial guarantee or insurance to pay for the inevitable toxic clean-up.