Our opinion
©Bloomington Herald Times
June 27, 2006

Whatever the outcome of the current legal negotiation among the parties to the PCB consent decree - the document that has directed cleanup efforts here since 1985 - there are two bottom line necessities that must be priorities.

First, the city of Bloomington and Monroe County should not become legally liable for any additional costs in the cleanup of the contamination - which, after all, neither government unit had any active role in creating.

More important than who pays the bills, though, is that the long term health of the residents of this community be protected - however that must be accomplished.

There still are large amounts of PCBs in the ground here - at the city owned Lemon Lane Landfill, at Bennett's Quarry on the west side and at Neal's landfill in the west central part of the county. They're almost impossible to get at. But they can still cause real problems, problems that any final solution must address.