The CSR language was added on recommendation of the county's Planning and Zoning Commission. Prime farmland was not singled out in the siting process, he said. In Linn County, Hall said, most of the deepest areas to bedrock tend to correlate with prime farm ground. DNR's Hallada said he doesn't place the same emphasis on depth to bedrock. And he said prime farmland is often not good for landfills because its soil lacks clay, which minimizes the potential for landfill leakage.
Prime land is also often flat instead of offering deep ravines.
Hall agrees on that flat-land point, but said the flip side is that flat, prime farmland is also less erodible. He doesn't agree on the importance of having clay in the top six feet of soil. Topsoil, he said, is of less interest in the landfill siting than the material farther below the surface. Plus, Hall said, choosing a landfill site with fewer environmental protections would result in opposition with a different set of arguments. Hallada said if none of the suggested Bluestem landfill sites would get county approval, then the next option would be to look at transporting county garbage elsewhere.