I am writing to express my concerns about the semi wreck south of Gallatin a few weeks ago.
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As the letter in last week’s paper revealed: the truck was hauling a by-product from National Beef Leathers waste water treatment facility. This by-product is called "hexavalent chromium," a very volatile chemical used to make stainless steel, textile dyes, wood preservatives, anti-corrosion coatings, and in the leather tanning business. The chromium is used to peel off the hair and separate the hide in the tanning process.
As most of you may know, there were recent outbreaks of brain tumors in the Cameron, Mo., area. This cluster of brain tumors may, or may not have anything to do with spreading the chromium sludge across the area farms. Chromium is a known carcinogen which means it has been proven to cause cancer. The sludge that once was thought to be harmless, in fact has been found to cause everything from skin rashes to birth defects.
The more that I researched chromium, the more that I wondered where you safely dump something so potentially harmful. I checked a list of dump sites throughout the state and found only 21 such approved sites. The only dump sites remotely close to our area are in Pettis County, (on the Illinois border), two in Jackson County (south of Kansas City), and last but not least in Saint Joseph, Mo. Yes, Saint Joseph has a landfill. "St. Joseph Sanitary Landfill" is located 9.77 miles from National Beef Leathers waste water treatment facility. This brings me to the question: why was this truck loaded with toxic sludge headed through our town?
I contacted the landfill and they were more than happy to answer my questions, in fact they were the only ones that called me back. The manager at the landfill said from 2000 to 2008 they only received about 50 tons of sludge. After they banned people from spreading it on farmland the landfill received about 1,200 tons as of May, 2009.
Officer Richards was correct, there is no law that prevents a truck from hauling this sludge, but shouldn’t there be? The landfill has a two foot clay ribbon and a thick membrane to store the sludge, but a semi can travel down the road uncovered while we nonchalantly drive beside them.
The only question that I want answered is where was this truck going? I live only about 50 yards from the road that truck was traveling down, and I would like to know that myself and my family are safe.
Justin Harlow