To: Government Officials, Environmental Regulatory Agencies, and Decision-Makers

We, the undersigned residents and allies of Scott County, urgently and unequivocally oppose the development or expansion of landfill in our rural community. We are speaking together—with one voice—to protect the health, heritage, and future of our land and people.

Our Health Is Not Disposable

Scientific evidence and lived experience across the nation make it clear: landfills are not neutral neighbors. They bring with them noxious air, leachate-contaminated soil and water, and the steady erosion of community health. The physical health risks include increased incidence of respiratory illnesses, contaminated groundwater affecting drinking supplies, and exposure to hazardous chemicals. Rural areas often lack the robust medical infrastructure to manage the long-term effects of such environmental exposures, placing disproportionate strain on vulnerable populations—children, the elderly, and those with chronic health conditions.

Equally alarming are the mental health tolls. Living in proximity to a landfill has been linked to heightened stress, anxiety, and a reduced sense of safety and well-being. Rural life offers a refuge from urban chaos, a place of stillness and connection to land. The constant intrusion of industrial traffic, odor, and environmental degradation dismantles that peace, slowly breaking down the psychological resilience of communities that already face high levels of isolation and economic precarity.

Rural Lives, Real Risk

Scott County is not a dumping ground. It is a living, breathing community. Our people are farmers, educators, caretakers, and stewards of this land. We hold a deep relationship with our environment—our rivers, our forests, our fields. These are not just scenic resources—they are the veins of our economy, our cultural identity, and our way of life.

Rural communities like ours are already at risk from economic underinvestment and the systematic neglect of public services. Introducing or expanding waste managament industry and landfill not only threatens public health—it places an unbearable burden on infrastructure, weakens property values, and deters the kind of sustainable investment and growth that our community needs to thrive.

A Threat to Nature and Generations

The environmental consequences of landfill development are long-lasting and often irreversible. Pollutants leach into water tables. Wildlife habitats are fragmented or destroyed. Air quality deteriorates. The very ecosystems that support agriculture, biodiversity, and climate resilience are dismantled in the name of short-term profit for outside interests.

This is not just about us. It is about the generations that come after us. We believe in our moral responsibility to be good ancestors—to leave our land healthier than we found it. A landfill does not honor that commitment. It desecrates it.

Our Message Is Clear

We demand that decision-makers:

• Fight the placement of landfill development in Scott County, putting the decision into the community's hands.

• Protect our rural lands from being exploited by external entities seeking to capitalize on our perceived silence or powerlessness.

• Invest in sustainable solutions for waste management that do not put marginalized communities at risk.

• Honor the voices of the people who live here, not the pocketbooks of those who do not.

• Place into law regulations that will protect future generations from further harm.

Scott County deserves better. We are not invisible. We are not expendable. We are united.

Where there is land, there is life. Let us preserve both.