BRIGHTON — The Adams County commissioners on Monday gave the final OK for a new landfill south of Denver International Airport, but the bitter dust swirling around the project probably won’t settle for a long time.
The 3-0 vote allows Alpine Waste & Recycling to accept household waste at its site west of Schumaker Road and south of 88th Avenue. About 80 property owners who live on 35-acre sites near the landfill have fought the proposal for more than three years, saying it will bring traffic, dust and environmental problems to their area.
Several spoke out against the landfill Monday, sometimes tearing up and sometimes lashing out at the company and the commissioners.
“Mr. Orloff,” neighbor Margaret Wright said to Alpine chief financial officer Alek Orloff, “you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Opponents of the 165-acre dump claimed at least two of the commissioners — W.R. “Skip” Fischer and Alice Nichol — were influenced in favor of the landfill by $7,000 in campaign contributions given in 2007 by landfill developer Phil Spano. Spano sold the site to Alpine Waste & Recycling in 2007.
“It just proves our commissioners can be bought,” said Angela Rodriguez.
But county officials denied that the contributions swayed the vote in favor of Alpine.
“There are campaigns, and there are land-use decisions,” said Adams County Attorney Hal Warren. “There is no connection between the two.”
Alpine officials also said their company was unfairly attacked by nearby landowners. They said Alpine has a sterling record of environmental stewardship and will use a variety of means such as town-hall meetings and e-mail updates to reach out and inform neighbors.
“I’m proud of our company, and I know the residents are unhappy,” said Alpine president John Griffith. “But we are not a faceless, monolithic company. We will be sensitive to their needs.”
Controversy has surrounded the landfill since 2005, when the county agreed — without a public hearing — to let household waste be dumped on a site that previously was permitted for coal ash.
Landowners filed a lawsuit in 2007, saying a public hearing should have been held to decide the household-waste issue. State officials agreed, and the county decided to put the proposal before the county planning commission and the commissioners for a vote.
Earlier this month, the planning commission voted against the proposed change of use, saying the landfill is not “compatible with the surrounding area.”
Several opponents of the Alpine proposal echoed the sentiments of the planning commission, saying their rural lifestyle would be ruined by the processing of up to 700 tons of trash per day.
They also pointed to concerns that DIA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Colorado Department of Transportation had with the dump attracting birds that could interfere with flight patterns.
“By any community standard, locating a dump in the middle of our homes is terribly wrong,” said Chuck Saxton, who lives near the site.
But the commissioners were swayed by a lengthy list of conditions the county imposed for the landfill to operate, including devising a plan to deal with birds in concert with the FAA, DIA and Front Range Airport.
“I do relate to the emotions . . .,” said Nichol. “But this a business decision, and I think we must move forward on this.”
However, opponents said they were not done fighting, said property owner Leslie Gerbracht.
“This is far, far from over,” she said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
