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Back on Monday, Aug. 5, Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal held their community meeting with Cumberland County residents at Cumberland High School.  The purpose of the meeting was for Green Ridge to discuss a new conditional use permit (CUP) that it intends to file with the Cumberland Planning Department. The representative from Green Ridge tried very hard to stress that the company now plans to reduce the size of the landfill disposal area, the amount of daily waste coming in, and the hours of the operation.  He stated that Green Ridge wants a good partnership with Cumberland County and wants to be “a good neighbor”. 
However, when it became time for the public to ask questions, the entire atmosphere of the meeting changed, including the demeanor of Green Ridge representatives. People asked the hard questions about well-water contamination, pollution, displacing wildlife, decreasing property values, endangering wetlands, contamination to streams and rivers, increase of traffic, and safety concerns for citizens.  And of course, these questions were not adequately addressed.
The fact is Green Ridge needs to get a new CUP approved, and they are trying to appease residents with whatever makes them sound good.  The original CUP was in 2018 and the landfill is not built yet. Why? Because this is not a suitable site for multiple reasons. 
Cumberland County was targeted for this landfill, because it is a small poor rural county with a large number of low-income households, elderly and minority populations.  A company like Green Ridge is not wanting to come into Cumberland and be willing to reduce the size of their landfill just to make residents happy.  The bottom line for them is money, and whatever games they need to play in order to get their foot in the door.  Then my guess is the plans for the landfill will be expansion, expansion, expansion. 

Barbara Speas
Cumberland