She said, he said, she said ...

Well, I'm a little confused. I read this morning in the Daily News this story about $1 million of state funding in an environmental bond being targeted (by our local legislators) for air quality monitoring and odor management at the landfill.

In the piece, which was written by Katie Farrell, who used to be/usually is the Amesbury reporter, our mayor is quoted as saying none of this would happen until after the landfill is capped and closed.

Mayor John Moak said yesterday the funding would be used for odor mitigation after the landfill is closed.

Capping the landfill is the responsibility of its owner, New Ventures.

"Right now, we don't own the landfill," Moak said.

Okay ... that did not really make sense to me, but OK.

Then I read the story in today's Current, which kind of implies that the money would be for mitigation now, which makes more sense to me.

“Over the last several years, I have received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls detailing various health issues associated with the landfill smell,” Baddour said. “Despite numerous interventions by the attorney general and the Department of Environmental Protection, toxic fumes that continue to emanate from the site demonstrate that the landfill is a public health hazard and that remedial measures must be taken immediately.”

The governor, who pledged in Amesbury a few weeks ago to talk to the DEP about the landfill, still has to sign the environmental bond bill, which was passed by the state legislature last month, apparently. And then the money has to be appropriated by the appropriate agency (DEP?).

What's the real deal?