What would you say if your 50-year-old friend told you he was charged with underaged drinking because in 1975 he consumed alcohol as an 18-year-old?
Probably something like, "That's ridiculous!"
It’s just as ridiculous as the state's attempt to collect money from four companies it says contributed to the environmental problems at the former Yates County landfill in Torrey.
Now, some other small businesses and organizations are planning to ante up to a pot of money to help pay off the state and prevent future lawsuits seeking funds to recover the cost of closing the landfill.
We need to send a message, loud and clear, to our elected and appointed officials in Albany that the pursuit of money from area businesses to reimburse the state for funds used to close the landfill should simply be dropped.
No one should have to pay one penny to the state for this folly, and here's why:
In the 1970s and 1980s the landfill owned by Yates County was operating within the laws of the day. Everyone who lived, worked or visited Yates County during that period contributed to the waste that was disposed of in the landfill.
We were being the best citizens we knew how to be at the time.
Sure, we may all know different ways to do things now. But remember, at the time that landfill was a sign of progress from the days when more folks than you want to know about simply dumped their trash over a gully bank somewhere.
Using the landfill was the acceptable way to dispose of waste.
Yes, it ended up being a problem. Yes, it needed to be remedied, and yes, the people who contributed to the problem needed to be, and are, responsible for paying for the clean up. The recently passed 2008 Yates County budget includes funds to pay continued expenses for the closure in addition to the ongoing cost of having the acreage, which at a minimum was workable farmland, off the tax rolls forever.
New York State's attempt to collect money from four major companies, which has set off another layer of legal threats, smacks of government-sanctioned extortion, plain and simple.
All the officials in Albany who stand behind this action, and all those who are doing nothing to support their Yates County constituents in this matter should be ashamed of the way they are attempting to do the people's business.
