How close would you live to......

[rainbowlady]

How close would you live to a landfill?

How many miles?

And how cheaper should the land be?

What should be my concerns on this?

The place I'm looking at is a little over 2 miles away by car, but as the crow flies, closer.

Sue

[watcher]

Personally, as far away as possible. Why?

1. The smell. It not enough to gag you but in the summer you will always have "that" smell.

2. The traffic. You'd expect garbage trucks but you will also have big rigs pulling large dump trailers, pick-ups and even cars pulling trailers going in and out. This makes it a pain to get into and out of your drive if you are close, noisy and dangerous for animals and kids if the house is close to the road.

3. Pest. Dumps are better today than years ago but there's no way for them to prevent all kinds of pest from being drawn to the trash. Bugs of all kinds, rats, mice, gulls, crows, stray dogs, feral cats are just a few.

[stranger]

the land should be real cheap compared to land 5 or even 3 miles away, i'm suprised that it is still operating.. 1st thing, would you be hooking up to town,city water or have your own well, if town water, buy the place, it will probably be covered in a few yrs anyway.

[mwhit]

I don't know about smell-- when I was a kid the town dump was less than 2 miles from here and I couldn't smell it ever. If the road you will be living on is the one people need to travel to get into the dump there will be a lot of traffic. Being two miles away I wouldn't worry that much about pests-- they'll probably want to be at the dump where the eating is good, not at your house. One thing to consider: when the landfill is filling up how close can they get to your house? In other words, how much land has been set aside as a landfill-- 100 acres? 200?? That would be my main concern.

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by stranger

i'm suprised that it is still operating..

Landfills are not a thing of the past by any means so I'm pondering your statement. Would you enlighten me?

The blowing trash would be my biggest concern and agree with the other ills aforementioned.

If one situates too closely your land might eventually be taken for an expansion area.

The landfill for the county I live in is closely monitored for environmental safety with rubber membranes used to line pits before they are put into use. Trash is compacted and covered daily.

There are current plans in the works to sell off around $1 million worth of methane gas per year. I suppose the rubber membranes sort of serve as holding bladders which although expensive may be a blessing to hold the gas.

[wy_white_wolf]

I live about a 1 1/2 miles from the landfill and have no problems from it. Not even smell. What direction is it in comparision to prevailing winds for the area?

Now the sewage treatment plant they put in about a mile away is a different story on days that the wind comes out of the north.

[paintlady]

When I lived in Wisconsin there were two families that both lived within a mile of our landfill. Both of their wells were condemned due to contaminated water. That landfill was basically where they kept digging holes in the ground and burying the trash after they burned it.

[rainbowlady]

The landfill is on 10690 6 Mile Rd, Northville, Michigan.

The house I'm looking at is past 5 mile.

Kind of like this (i'm bad at visuals)



landfill
-----------------------------6mile rd--------------------------------------

-----------------------------5mile rd-------------------------------------
I
I
I
I
X(home)

The Is are the small road to the home, off 5 mile.

6 mile is north of 5 mile. I would be southwest of the landfill.

The home I believe has city water, but I'm gonna check.

http://www.veoliaes.com/ is the landfill people

It says they, "Onyx also operates the Arbor Hills Landfill, Northville, Mich., which is generating 17.5 MWs of electricity."

I also found out,

"Description of Services: The facility is a Type II sanitary landfill which accepts municipal solid waste, contaminated soils, wastewater treatment sludge, RCRA empty containers, properly packaged friable and non-friable asbestos, industrial process waste, off-specification or outdated products, and other characteristically nonhazardous industrial and special wastes. Additionally, construction and demolition wastes such as broken concrete, brick, masonry, etc. are accepted.

There also has an onsite composting facility, mulch production, and household recycling operation."

I would google map it for you, but I'm not feeling that technologically advanced today, and neither is my computer.

Why would I want to live near a landfill. Well there are three in the areas I want to live. Guess that garbage has to go somewhere, so let's put it in the less densely populated places (like where someone seeking property would want to live).

The last place I looked at, was RIGHT across from a landfill, I found out. I passed it up. This one, I'm thinking about it, because it is the right price, the right place (really it is, I know the area well), and enough acreage with the the right home. Really it suits us.

Still waiting to hear back from the zoning director on whether we can have a horse there.

What do y'all think, having this info as well?

Sue

[rainbowlady]

And as for expansion, they'd have to cross two major roads (both 6 and 5 mile), demolish a golf course on their way, to get to me.

Their expansion would be done the other way, imo., towards the north, or east/west.

Sue

[rainbowlady]

The formatting on my little map on where the landfill is.

THe landfill should be to the RIGHT (quite a bit) and above where the home is.

Not directly above.

Sue

[fantasymaker]

If you cant see it from the property and you don't smell it it shouldn't be a factor in what the lands worth.
There might be a health risk that isn't apparent.
That single line "contaminated soils" is a kicker, when I worked for a has-mat cleanup company we would take any nasty chemical add lime or another agent to sop it up and then we could take it to any landfill accepting contaminated soil.

[suitcase_sally]

Have the water tested as a condition of purchase.

[foxtrapper]

Don't ever assume things about expansion and such, check and verify.

Groundwater contamination from leaching is a very real problem. Arguably an eventuality, for no liner is perfect, regardless of what is claimed in public meetings. Check on water flow direction, but assume your well will be contaminated eventually, and plan accordingly. At the very least, check it every few years.

Odors and wind blown trash can be severe problems. They are mostly a function of how the landfill is operated. This varies not only with the site, but with the people running it. A good crew now may be replaced by a lousy one in the future. Consider this.

Landfills are not ever an attractive feature to future buyers. It will drive your value down and reduce your ability to sell. Keep that in mind for the future. It very well may not be an easy sell later. Especially if your well is contaminated, trash is covering the area, it stinks in your yard, and the landfill has moved a mile closer to you. Though decreased property value can be used as a tool in your favor right now.

[Danaus29]

I'm 7 miles away from one. This landfill is downhill and on a completely different water table than we are. Get the well tested and contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District to see if the landfill is on the same water table. If it is, I'd be cautious about the potability of the well water.

[rainbowlady]

Well, after talking it over with dh, and our concerns, we decided to pass at this time, and have started looking into another area.

Thanks you all for your help and advice,

Sue

[stranger]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

Landfills are not a thing of the past by any means so I'm pondering your statement. Would you enlighten me?

.

where i live they're all closed, there is no such thing as dumping trash in or on the ground and burying it, now they are transfer stations, cans in one dumpster, glass in another, garbage in another,ect. all recycleables are recycled and all garbage is trucked out.

[Ross]

I guess the city's landfill would be about 6-8 miles away from me. It's good sized landfill well managed and has the dollars to do water quality testing etc. You wouldn't know it was there even 2 miles away. Heck even 1/2 a mile away! The truck traffic is so well managed you barely see a garbage truck except for one road. Land there is selling for 10k+++ per acre due to development.

[fordson major]

this is the new game in garbage in our town!
http://www.plascoenergygroup.com/?Ne...he_first_time_
speaking of which gotta git r dun! garbage day here!

[Jennifer L.]

Originally Posted by stranger

where i live they're all closed, there is no such thing as dumping trash in or on the ground and burying it, now they are transfer stations, cans in one dumpster, glass in another, garbage in another,ect. all recycleables are recycled and all garbage is trucked out.

And where do you think that trucked out garbage is going?

Jennifer

[Beth@pointseven]

I would run away fast. You never know, you could end up living next to something like this.




And trust me you don't want to. He moved in 2 years after we bought our place.

Actually this is most likely where the trucked out stuff is going
Beth