I did some good work today. I broke a story about a major illegal dump near our municipal airport today. The owners have been fined $10,000 and are near the end of their 30-day Administrative Compliance Order to clean it up. One of the owners only answered a couple of questions before deciding he didn't want to talk any more. I pulled together information about the family corporation that owns the site, the Department of Environmental Quality's case status, and even had an aerial photograph of the property showing all the waste.
This is a big deal because it's adjacent to a road that will become a city bypass in the next year, as well as the industrial park which is expanding immediately to the south. These owners will never be able to clean up the site; they are in their 80s and can't afford the $10,000 fine, much less the cost of cleanup. We could be looking at a future Superfund site here.
This was a pure "steak" story: meaty and one to sink your teeth into.
The publisher's reaction? (See previous post about "holiday"). Any comment about this story? Nary a one.
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1 comment:
Isn't odd what people will choose to find important?
Happy belated Thanksgiving!
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