Pros

Cons

Level old strip mines - Strip mining over the last century has left land around Hazleton scarred and barren. It's a depressing sight to drive around the town beltway and see the land mutilated and useless. The dredge project would fill in these old mines and bring land close to its original contour. Beautify Landscape - Once brought close to its original contour, the reclaimed land can be beautified by planting grass, trees, shrubs, etc. Buildings can also be built on the land, such as shops, residences, and government buildings. Build Amphitheater - A 20,000 seat arena is already planned for the site. Concerts and other performances can be held there during the good weather months. This would attract attention to the town and boost business within town limits. Create Jobs - All the buildings built on the site will need staff and maintenance. This will create hundreds o jobs for an area that is in great need of an economic catalyst. Income for the city of Hazleton - All the businesses and all the people employed by these businesses would pay taxes to the city government. The area would most likely be spared from property taxes for a number of years under the KOZ state provisions. Eventually, however, those taxes would also add to the city of Hazleton's bottom line.

River dredge may be toxic - Why would a town be offered money to accept landfill material? Why are towns nearer the dredge sources refusing to accept the dredge for their own land filling projects? Why is the town of Hazleton accepting the dredge? These are the kind of questions that cast suspicion upon the effects of this dredge on population surrounding it. There is a lot of reading material on the Internet that tell stories about aftereffects of river dredge dumping. You will find links to some of these articles on the links page. Water may get contaminated - We're talking about tap water. This is the water that you may very well end up drinking. There are plenty of statutes out there whose purpose is to guard potable water. These statutes set some very rigid restrictions on what can be dumped on the land. These statutes came into existence as a result of many years of accumulated evidence that materials people dump on the land eventually end up in the water table. This water table affects both city water reservoirs and private wells. Therefore, no one is safe from irresponsible dumping. Health concerns - Ultimately, it's the people that suffer. The people living around these dump sites, drinking the surrounding water, and breathing the surrounding air, are the ones that pay the price. Is our health worth the extra government spending money? Is it worth a slightly better town economy? Is it worth some extra shopping and entertainment? Concern for wild life - It's not just people, which drink the water and breathe the air around these dredge dumping projects. All wildlife suffers from toxicity brought on by the people. Truck traffic problems - With over 200 trucks driving in and out of Hazleton every day, the congestion on the streets of this town will increase dramatically. If the material is brought in by rail, downtown traffic will be at a standstill numerous times during the day while the trains crawl through. Flyash in the air - Flyash, as the name implies, is light and powdery. It will be practically impossible to economically transport it without spreading some of it in the air around the trucks doing the transporting. If you think smoking is bad for your health wait till you breathe some flyash. Decay of public trust - If people start getting sick as a result of this project, a demoralizing effect will ripple through the population. If we can't trust our own elected government to look out for us, who will? Pollution - General pollution, such as smog and carbon monoxide will increase due to all the traffic and gasoline burning machinery involved in the project. Foul Odors - Fresh river dredge emits an unpleasant odor. Therefore, until the dredge settles and is covered with topsoil, the town of Hazleton will smell somewhat like a garbage dump.