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It is quite obvious that any landfill, no matter how "clean" the fill is, would have a very dramatic impact on the ecology.
Bottom line, how many animals would die and how long would it take for Lake Michigan to recover and what about the water quality?
The science of ecology informs us that all parts of an environment are interrelated. Any landfill project in Edgewater will impact the entire shoreline in ways that are difficult to predict and impossible to reverse. The physical and social health of our neighborhood cannot be separated from the soundness of its environment.
Dredging for shoreline construction would increase silt in the water that can disrupt or destroy below-surface ecosystems as well as reducing swimming quality for recreation. Heavy construction machinery used in building shoreline are also highly disruptive to the lakebed. Heavy construction machines pollute much more severely than automobiles.
That pollution would go straight into Lake Michigan—the source of our drinking water.
Another concern is the interference with hydrodynamics a landfill would create. Hydrodynamics, the ways water moves through a system, have significant impacts on local water quality, temperature, and level; the creation of habitats and microclimates; and even weather patterns. A change in the shape and composition of the shoreline and the depth of the water basin will influence hydrodynamics in profound ways.
We're waiting for the ecologists to weigh in on this for us.
Please submit your articles for publication to: administrator@stopthelandfill.org
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