TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Pasco Letters to the Editor

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

Stop Junk Mail

Rather than spending millions of dollars on a new garbage incinerator and out-of-county trash hauling, reduce the volume of paper in our trash.

How? By reducing the unwanted advertisements, papers, catalogs and credit offers, etc., that are put in our mailboxes.

Www.stopjunkmail.org is free. Www.greendimes.com has a small fee. Www.

catalogchoice.com is free. Www.USPS.com is free.

Government should offer more cardboard, paper and can recycling. Land O' Lakes has an easily accessible recycling place.

And everyone with a yard and a shovel can compost. Drill holes in the bottom of a plastic trash barrel (with a good lid). Put in a layer of yard dirt, leaves and vegetable and fruit scraps, etc. Sprinkle with water, stir, and cover and repeat as needed.

The county agricultural extension service also is free.

Land O' Lakes' library collects household batteries to be recycled.

Grocery stores accept plastic bags and egg cartons. Use the book and gym bags you have to put most of your groceries in, rather than using plastic.

None of this is costly, and you will save trees, water, fuel and money. Your mail person will be happier, too.

CYNTHIA KERRIGAN

Land O' Lakes

David Versus Goliath

Regarding "Landfill Backers Turn Up Heat Against Incinerator," Feb. 3:

The plot thickens. Now we learn that the Iafrate family and their company, Angelo's Aggregate Materials, are donating large sums of money, over $17,000, to our local politicians.

They have financed a bogus "environmental" front group which has spent untold (they won't say how much) amounts of money on a mass mailing.

And there's the matter of the $50,000 Angelo's Aggregate Materials has donated to Citizens for Housing and Urban Growth, a Tallahassee "political committee" run by state Sen. Mike Bennett of Bradenton.

Angelo's is spending huge sums of money to advance their cause. Their cause is to build a 10-story dump on farmland in east Pasco County, just west of the Green Swamp, threatening our water recharge area. They will bring in tons of garbage from out of the county and out of state. They want to make a lot of money.

They will increase pollution dramatically just with the trucks they use. They will also ruin the roads. But you don't hear anything about that from them.

I feel like David opposing Goliath. They have all the money and the power. But we who oppose them have the moral high ground because what they are doing is just not right.

FERN WILLIAMS

Zephyrhills

Good Public Policy

Regarding "Landfill Backers Turn Up Heat Against Incinerator:"

The recent flier mailed to residents seems designed to mislead and does residents of Pasco County a great disservice.

As is well known by the author of the mailer, Pasco County's Energy-from-Waste Facility has been Clean Air Act-retrofitted and is well below allowable Environmental Protection Agency and state standards. In fact, this facility was among four waste-to-energy facilities given the Sustainable Florida Leadership award.

Further, WTE does more than meet Pasco's solid waste disposal needs. For each ton of garbage converted to energy, a ton of greenhouse gases is not put into our atmosphere. And by using WTE, Pasco relies less on landfills and long-distance shipping of trash, preserving valuable land and resources with minimal disturbance to surrounding neighborhoods.

WTE has been a highly successful public policy in Pasco County, which early on recognized the importance of developing renewable energy for its residents.

JOSEPH TRESHLER

Covanta Energy

Add P.A.W.S.

I'm the manager of P.A.W.S.' spay and neuter clinic in Pasco County. I see that you have groups participating in the Spay Day USA. I would like to inform the public that P.A.W.S is taking part as well.

We will be neutering 100 male cats on Feb. 26 by appointment only. Add P.A.W.S. to the group of organizations that are participating in Spay Day USA.

HELEN SCHOUPPE

Port Richey

The writer works for the company that operates the county incinerator in Shady Hills.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT