STOP THE PACIFIC STEEL LANDFILL IN SHEPHERD!!!!
Location of proposed landfill: Corner of Shepherd Acton Road and Highway 87. This is an area
meant for farming, ranching, families, and beautiful Montana countryside. Our community is not the place for an industrial dump.
Pacific Steel states, “The immediate area surrounding the proposed repository area is sparsely populated and the local residents will become accustomed to the noise, traffic, and odor associated with routine operations.”
HERE ARE TWO WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED, TO STOP THIS LANDFILL:
Send an email to deqswprogram@mt.gov by November 30, 2023 at 11:59 pm
Questions you have, state why you do not want this facility, and anything DEQ still needs to address in their Environmental Assessment.
Requesting this entire project be delayed until DEQ and/or EPA’s PFAS current research is complete (link 1 below, and in our highlights/concerns section below). If DEQ cannot guarantee that this ASR landfill is safe, this project should not be permitted. DEQ and PSR, what’s the rush?
Attend MT DEQ’s public meeting: Tuesday, November 21st, at Shepherd High School Gym. Public discussion starts at 6pm, presentation by DEQ at 6:30pm with time for questions to follow.
Let’s pack the place so DEQ knows our community does not want this landfill.
DEQ will accept paper comments at the meeting.
HERE’S WHY WE WILL NOT, AND SHOULD NOT, GET USED TO THIS INDUSTRIAL WASTE DUMP IN OUR BACK YARDS:
HAZARDOUS CANCER-CAUSING PARTICLES!!!
Auto-shredder Residue (ASR) is the hazardous leftovers from shredding and recycling automobiles and appliances. ASR contains PFAS. What is PFAS? Scan MT DEQ’s own QR code above to their own website for more details. BUT, here are some highlights from MT DEQ’s website: (Link 1: https://deq.mt.gov/cleanupandrec/Programs/pfas)
According to MT DEQ,
“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of human-made chemicals.”
“PFAS are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they do not easily break down and can stay in the environment for long periods of time.”
“Major Sources of PFAS: Aqueous film forming foam, production and manufacturing facilities, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants, including biosolids application sites.”
“The most common sources of human exposure to PFAS include: Drinking water, especially in areas where the water source is near where PFAS have been used or disposed such as landfills and airfields.”
“Our goal is to reduce or eliminate potential risks posed by PFAS to human health and the environment.”
Under MT DEQ’s PFAS Action Plan Objective 3, “Pursue preventive measures (legislation, regulation, permitting).” Is this why MT DEQ only gave the public 10 days to comment on the proposal, instead of the original 30 days? Is this why the start of the landfill recently moved from January 2025 and July 2024, 6 months earlier? Is the landfill approval being rushed before regulations change and this landfill won’t be permitted anymore?
Under MT DEQ’s PFAS Action Plan Objective 5, “Prevent creation of new sites (such as biosolid application sites) through better sampling and planning.”
“Only a few of the thousands of PFAS have been studied for their potential to affect people’s health. Research is ongoing and we will learn more over time. Studies that have occurred suggest that exposure to certain PFAS may lead to health problems including changes in the liver, cardiovascular effects, reproductive effects in women, immunological and developmental effects in infants and children, and an increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer.”
The proposed landfill’s liner is an HDPE liner, which has not been proven to prevent PFAS chemicals found in ASR from leaching into our water and soil.
PSR is proposing a Class II landfill. According to Administrative Rules of Montana 17.50.504, “Household waste, although it may contain some household hazardous waste or other non-regulated hazardous waste, may be disposed of at Class II landfills.”
The chemicals within ASR have been linked to cancer, asthma, respiratory issues, ADHD in children, and more.
The cancer-causing particles will blow all around the area, including downwind in which Shepherd residents live. This “fluff” is going to blow around for miles in all directions.
A 2021 study found that ASR contains “a toxic residue that can contain heavy metals like cadmium, zinc and lead.”
Pacific Steel is saying that ASR is not hazardous. But, as EPA recently stated at a public meeting in Billings, just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean it’s moral.
Read Pacific Steel’s application and DEQ’s Environmental Assessment here:
Visit our website for more information: www.stoptheshepherdlandfill.com
Email: stoptheshepherdlandfill@gmail.com Website: www.stoptheshepherdlandfill.com
Join our Facebook Group: “Stop the Shepherd Landfill”
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