Citizens have carried on a long time fight with WMI. After successfully closing the Fort Wayne garbage superfund dump, still owned (along with 300 acres) by WMX, they gained their greater success by stopping the proposed expansion of the Adams toxic dump. WMX has wanted to gain six more months for the site by expanding the height of the dangerous hazardous site. WMX lost when the state stopped them declaring them bad boys! WMI is appealing the state decision. With the site closed WMX plans to use the facility as a transfer station.
Citizens find a similar situation at the Adams site to the Dayton site. The city of Fort Wayne has been receiving its modern-day Biblical bribe with payments to the city coffers by WMX of $125,000 per year plus $1 per ton loaded in the dump (amounting to over $100,000 added dollars). Needless to say this small city has an incentive to find another site to continue this cosy relationship of a nice city income. Part of the funds paid by WMX go to a Housing Trust Fund staffed by a WMX employee! The fund balance in 1997 was $1,182,859. Most of the funds have gone to African-American minister's churches as a way WMX develops a close relationship with the Black clergy.
The other questionable relationship exposed is that of Navistar and WMX. Chem Waste's CEO sat on the WMX Board of Directors. Navistar worked closely in 1992 to get the Adams site annexed to the city of Fort Wayne with its host fee bribe-like relationship. "The purpose of the annexation," says leading citizen Bob Beineke, "was to get a government friendly to Chem Waste (WMX) to be in control of zoning, and with a 'host fee' deal, Fort Wayne would willingly change zoning to accommodate Chem Waste."
Navistar, facing huge clean up costs at the superfund site potentially forgivable by WMI, has helped WMX attempt to expand the Adams site using Navistar land.
So the Fort Wayne citizens continue to be most watchful of conniving WMX. But they did get a victory by getting WMX declared so corrupt that they were unacceptable by the State of Indiana. Beineke states, "We were not instrumental in getting the 'Bad Boy' law enacted. However, we were instrumental in getting the language used against Chem Waste. It was really to our pleasant surprise that the state was so aggressive in using the language against Chem Waste," writes Beineke.
Not only do Beineke and the citizen watchdogs need to watch WMX and Navistar but they also need to watch Republic Industries which now owns the Fort Wayne Reduction Dump Superfund Site three miles from the Adams site. Republic is owned by Wayne Huizenga, the billionaire entrepreneur who with his cousin started Waste Management! In fact Huizenga was probably directly involved when WMX oringinally bought the Fort Wayne dumps.
Keep the faith Fort Wayne citizens! And congrats for your victory!