Dear Editor,
There is a need to clear up the difference between the terms dump and landfill. Minister Lee had already mentioned this in one of the morning briefing sessions that are aired on the radio.
In both Thursday’s and Friday’s, The Daily Herald, the articles pertaining to the dump use the terms dump and landfill interchangeably. Perhaps it would help explain the cost of getting rid of the dump and replacing it with a controlled landfill (and the obvious benefits of doing so) if the people of St. Maarten understood the differences between the two, and the terms dump and landfill are not used interchangeably.
The difference between a dump and a landfill:
A dump is a hole in the ground with trash simply piled in it. A landfill is a sophisticated, engineered construction project that makes use of the latest science to protect the environment.
Landfills use science and engineering to prevent pollution, help the environment and protect our health. Trash is covered at the end of every day to prevent odours and to stop it from flying away.
Landfill gas is created when the buried trash decomposes. This landfill gas is collected in pipes and recycled into electricity and fuel. (several offers were made to the SXM government to do this in the past several years; all were refused for reasons unknown).
Materials that may be dangerous, such as hazardous or radioactive waste, as well as batteries, are not allowed at the landfill. Certain materials, such as glass, tires, and green waste are recycled at landfills.
Billowing, thick black clouds of toxic smoke blanketing large parts of the Dutch side, forcing people to stay in their homes with the windows shut for days on end, as well as large numbers of tourists fleeing the boardwalk to get back to their cruise ship will hopefully be a thing of the past soon. That is up to the government of St. Maarten to decide.
A concerned citizen
