Agenda - Council - 09/13/1982 - Special

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i I i i i 24 WHEN IS COMPENSATION APPROPRIATE? Three types of impacts that cannot be easily mitigated are. predictable, intangible and uncertain impacts. When impacts cannot be easily mitigated or cannot be mitigated at all, it may be desirable to provide compensation. Many of the impacts previously discussed are avoidable if mitigating measures are taken at the appropriate time. However, there are a few that are predict- able. These include loss of farmland {could be temporary or permanentl, increased truck traffic near a facility, odors, loss of taxes from property taken off the local tax rolls, increased public service burden on the local government, and loss of public land. Several impacts can be considered intangible because they are difficult to measure. These include the stigma a community may acquire for having a land- fill, aesthetic impacts and lowering of property values near a waste disposal facility. Uncertain impacts are those with no reliable means of predicting if a waste disposal facility is constructed. The most severe of these impacts are groundwater contamination and accidents or explosions. PREDICTABLE IMPACTS i INCREASED TRAFFIC Increased increased truck traffic near a waste disposal facility increases noise levels, pollutant emissions, the potential for traffic-related accidents and the need for road repairs'. Whereas noise and pollutants can be reduced by vehicle operators, road repairs and road safety are the responsibility of the host community. Such costs to a community are an unfair burden, particularly when the wastes are trucked in from other communities. However, an increase in truck traffic alone--without due consideration to the status, size and design specifications of the roadway--would not necessarily justify compensation. For example, compensation Would probably not be war- ranted where a waste disposal facility added to the traffic load of an under used state highway. If the highway had been designed for a certain traffic capacity, any impacts likely to result from a planned, maximum traffic load are to be expected, as long as the capacity is not exceeded. In other words, any lowering of property values along the highway may have occurred when the road- way was built--not as a result of increased traffic--to the waste disposal facility. Residents along a small service or entry road to a waste disposal facility would likely be entitled to compensation because of the severe disruption caused by increased traffic. In addition, if these small roads are maintained by the county, municipality or township, road maintenance costs would increase considerably. Compensation may be warranted to cover additional expenses incurred for regrading or repair work. It is difficult to measure the impact of increased traffic to a waste disposal facility on property values and residents. Which residents should be compen- sated and, if so, how much should they be paid? Should they be paid one lump- sum, payments over time or by some other method? Should people who live on township, municipal or county roads be the only ones awarded cQmpensation?