Soundtrack Op-ed: Don West, co-founder of “Waste Not! – Carroll” speaks out on Maryland General Assembly incinerator legislation
February 14, 2010
Editor,
On Saturday, February 13, 2010, the Carroll County Times Opinion Page gave Senate Bill 228 a “thumbs down”. The bill, sponsored by Senator Alex Mooney, R – District 3 (Frederick and Washington Counties), prohibits the Maryland Department of the Environment from issuing a permit for the construction of an incinerator unless certain conditions are met.
Included in those conditions are that the incinerator is located in an area zoned for heavy industrial activity and that the site is at least 3 miles from a church, school, park, hospital or residential dwelling.
The CC Times asserts that Mooney was disingenuous in offering the legislation. Yet, Senator Mooney states he has received thousands of e-mails from his constituents in opposition to the Waste to Energy (WTE) incinerator that is proposed in his district. Rather than disingenuous, I view his legislation as an example of a senator responding to the needs and desires of those he serves.
The same column accuses Mooney of political posturing in an election year. That charge is easy enough to refute – Senator Mooney introduced a similar bill in last year’s legislative session. Last year was not an election year for County Commissioners in either Frederick or Carroll Counties.
Speaking of politicizing the issue, our own Commissioner Michael Zimmer ventured to Annapolis to testify against the same bill last week. He said he wants to make sure that Carroll County has an opportunity to reap the same benefits of WTE incineration as Baltimore City and Montgomery and Harford County. After examining this issue in some detail, I’m wondering what benefits Commissioner Zimmer has in mind?
Perhaps it’s all the money to be spent? With current projected construction costs upwards of $600,000,000, plus the financing and the anticipated operating expenses for the life span of the incinerator, we are facing a total cost to taxpayers in Carroll and Frederick in excess of 2 billion dollars!
Given current budgetary problems, I don’t see how anyone would view an expenditure of this magnitude a ‘benefit’. If you are interested in how bad it can get, look to Harrisburg, PA, where the city is nearly bankrupt following a botched upgrade to their incinerator.
Another ‘benefit’ of WTE incineration that proponents like to cite is the electrical energy the facility will generate. What they don’t say is that the incinerator is in reality a poor source of power, generating only about 1/10 of the electricity of a typical electrical plant. Also, any power generated goes first to the operation of the facility. Then Frederick County, as majority partner, gets second priority for the power.
Finally, Carroll County can get what’s left, providing we pay for it. That’s right, we will pay for the electricity generated by burning the trash that we pay to have burned in the incinerator that we are paying for! At the Dickerson facility in Montgomery County, financial records show that money from the sale of electricity doesn’t even offset service on the bonds issued for the initial construction of that incinerator; operating costs are borne by the residents and taxpayers.
In fact, if you compare the energy saved by recycling or composting waste destined for the incinerator versus the energy provided from its combustion, incineration is an enormous Waste of Energy!
Proponents of the incinerator would like you to think that with an incinerator burning our trash, we will no longer need landfills. This is false. First of all, as much as 20 – 25% of our solid waste can’t be burned. Most yard waste and construction & demolition refuse are two examples - other disposal methods will need to be used.
Plus the residual ash from the incinerator will need to be dealt with. Some propose that using the ash as a daily cover at the landfill is appealing. Montgomery County, however, pays to haul its ash to Virginia, where it is handled as a hazardous waste, at an additional cost of several million dollars per year. I’m not seeing any great benefit there, either.
Finally, proponents like to say that emissions from the Waste to Energy incinerator will be closely monitored. Carroll and Frederick’s agreement allows for the monitoring of 12 regulated emissions. Unfortunately, a recent report from the MDE for the Harford County incinerator identified nearly 200 toxins released! If that’s the level of monitoring we can expect at our proposed incinerator, I don’t think I would want my family to live 30 miles from such a facility.
An editorial in the CCT’s the following day accuses Senator Mooney of a “Not In My Backyard” motivation for proposing his legislation. Superficially, I can see where that could be argued, except that the adoption of his bill would mean that nobody in Maryland would have an incinerator within 3 miles of their home, school or church.
Perhaps it’s more accurately portrayed as NIABY, “ Not In Anybody’s Backyard”. For that, Mooney’s attempt at regulating future incinerator locations should be applauded, not ridiculed.
Some may view Senator Mooney’s legislation as an intrusion of state government into a local issue. However, when our local elected officials ignore the views of their constituents, and more importantly, the facts and ramifications of their decisions, seeking the assistance of another level of our government is our right and obligation.
Don H. West
Westminster
The writer is a co-founder of Waste Not! - Carroll
On Saturday, February 13, 2010, the Carroll County Times Opinion Page gave Senate Bill 228 a “thumbs down”. The bill, sponsored by Senator Alex Mooney, R – District 3 (Frederick and Washington Counties), prohibits the Maryland Department of the Environment from issuing a permit for the construction of an incinerator unless certain conditions are met.
Included in those conditions are that the incinerator is located in an area zoned for heavy industrial activity and that the site is at least 3 miles from a church, school, park, hospital or residential dwelling.
The CC Times asserts that Mooney was disingenuous in offering the legislation. Yet, Senator Mooney states he has received thousands of e-mails from his constituents in opposition to the Waste to Energy (WTE) incinerator that is proposed in his district. Rather than disingenuous, I view his legislation as an example of a senator responding to the needs and desires of those he serves.
The same column accuses Mooney of political posturing in an election year. That charge is easy enough to refute – Senator Mooney introduced a similar bill in last year’s legislative session. Last year was not an election year for County Commissioners in either Frederick or Carroll Counties.
Speaking of politicizing the issue, our own Commissioner Michael Zimmer ventured to Annapolis to testify against the same bill last week. He said he wants to make sure that Carroll County has an opportunity to reap the same benefits of WTE incineration as Baltimore City and Montgomery and Harford County. After examining this issue in some detail, I’m wondering what benefits Commissioner Zimmer has in mind?
Perhaps it’s all the money to be spent? With current projected construction costs upwards of $600,000,000, plus the financing and the anticipated operating expenses for the life span of the incinerator, we are facing a total cost to taxpayers in Carroll and Frederick in excess of 2 billion dollars!
Given current budgetary problems, I don’t see how anyone would view an expenditure of this magnitude a ‘benefit’. If you are interested in how bad it can get, look to Harrisburg, PA, where the city is nearly bankrupt following a botched upgrade to their incinerator.
Another ‘benefit’ of WTE incineration that proponents like to cite is the electrical energy the facility will generate. What they don’t say is that the incinerator is in reality a poor source of power, generating only about 1/10 of the electricity of a typical electrical plant. Also, any power generated goes first to the operation of the facility. Then Frederick County, as majority partner, gets second priority for the power.
Finally, Carroll County can get what’s left, providing we pay for it. That’s right, we will pay for the electricity generated by burning the trash that we pay to have burned in the incinerator that we are paying for! At the Dickerson facility in Montgomery County, financial records show that money from the sale of electricity doesn’t even offset service on the bonds issued for the initial construction of that incinerator; operating costs are borne by the residents and taxpayers.
In fact, if you compare the energy saved by recycling or composting waste destined for the incinerator versus the energy provided from its combustion, incineration is an enormous Waste of Energy!
Proponents of the incinerator would like you to think that with an incinerator burning our trash, we will no longer need landfills. This is false. First of all, as much as 20 – 25% of our solid waste can’t be burned. Most yard waste and construction & demolition refuse are two examples - other disposal methods will need to be used.
Plus the residual ash from the incinerator will need to be dealt with. Some propose that using the ash as a daily cover at the landfill is appealing. Montgomery County, however, pays to haul its ash to Virginia, where it is handled as a hazardous waste, at an additional cost of several million dollars per year. I’m not seeing any great benefit there, either.
Finally, proponents like to say that emissions from the Waste to Energy incinerator will be closely monitored. Carroll and Frederick’s agreement allows for the monitoring of 12 regulated emissions. Unfortunately, a recent report from the MDE for the Harford County incinerator identified nearly 200 toxins released! If that’s the level of monitoring we can expect at our proposed incinerator, I don’t think I would want my family to live 30 miles from such a facility.
An editorial in the CCT’s the following day accuses Senator Mooney of a “Not In My Backyard” motivation for proposing his legislation. Superficially, I can see where that could be argued, except that the adoption of his bill would mean that nobody in Maryland would have an incinerator within 3 miles of their home, school or church.
Perhaps it’s more accurately portrayed as NIABY, “ Not In Anybody’s Backyard”. For that, Mooney’s attempt at regulating future incinerator locations should be applauded, not ridiculed.
Some may view Senator Mooney’s legislation as an intrusion of state government into a local issue. However, when our local elected officials ignore the views of their constituents, and more importantly, the facts and ramifications of their decisions, seeking the assistance of another level of our government is our right and obligation.
Don H. West
Westminster
The writer is a co-founder of Waste Not! - Carroll
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2010/02/soundtrack-op-ed-waste-not-carroll.html
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