Incineration — Andy Arthur.org

Environmental and community groups detail opposition to proposed Catskill incinerator ash dump

Andy | April 16, 2019

Environmental and community groups detail opposition to proposed Catskill incinerator ash dump

Wheelabrator Technologies, the second largest trash incineration company in the U.S., has proposed creating a large incinerator ash dump in a former quarry in the Town of Catskill near the shore of the Hudson River. The company is in the process of applying for permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

This project would involve trucking approximately 445,000 tons of toxic ash on local roads — including U.S. Route 9W — through Catskill and surrounding communities, with trucks coming from the south and the north. The quarry site is made up of highly permeable hydrology, which is known to have extensive drainage systems and springs, adding to the likelihood of toxic ash reaching the Hudson River and groundwater. Incinerator ash like that from Wheelabrator incinerators includes high levels of heavy metals and dioxins. The ash poses a significant risk to the surrounding region’s human and natural communities as well as to the entire Hudson River ecosystem.

Corporations Buying Liberal Opinion-makers on Garbage Incineration

Andy | June 14, 2013

It bothers me that the Center for American Progress is taking money from Covanta incinerator corporation to promote garbage incineration on their blog…

Puerto Ricans will soon be turning their trash into renewable energy. On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its final approval of an air permit for a 77 megawatt EfW plant, owned by Energy Answers International, a first for the U.S. island territory.The $650 million facility, which will be built in three years in the town of Arecibo, will create thousands of direct and indirect induced jobs, and turn more than 2,100 tons of garbage a day into renewable electricity for more than 76,000 homes on the island.

Creating domestic renewable energy is a major necessity since Puerto Rico’s electricity is overwhelmingly derived from imported petroleum, natural gas, and coal.Six public hearing sessions were held since May 2012, and over 3,000 public comments had been reviewed by the EPA. And while the comment period is open for this issued permit, Energy Answers has gone through a long and rigorous review process and there should be no objections that delay the project from moving forward.Here are five reasons why energy from waste is a great opportunity for Puerto Rico and the rest of the United States.

Here is an article explaining why many environmentalists think this is a terrible idea…

Environmental, community and medical group leaders charged Tuesday that actions by the Fortuño administration demonstrate that incineration is the official public policy for solid waste, rather than working toward a goal of “zero garbage.”

The government has orders to shut down the island’s landfills within the next 36 months, and proposals to build incinerators in Arecibo and Barceloneta, Sierra Club members said during a press conference at the Puerto Rico Bar Association, in Miramar, Tuesday.

“Incinerating our trash is not the solution, because a third of each ton of trash that is set on fire becomes highly toxic ashes, and winds up in landfills,” Biaggi said, adding government’s goal should be to reduce, reuse and recycle our solid waste.

According to Biaggi, Puerto Rico should be able to take care of 67 percent of its solid waste, while supposedly generating thousands of related jobs.

The reality is most progressive cities are able to recycle upwards of 90% of their waste through convenient recycling programs, that don’t lock up recycling bins or make them hard to access. Likewise, progressive cities ban styrofoam from vendors, and have separate bins soiled paper, food scraps, and yard waste for composting.

Many cities on the west coast have adopted Zero Waste policies and have seen dramatic reductions in the amount of waste going to landfills, by diverting technical materials like plastic and glass to recycling, and organics to composting facilities. Unfortunately, many of the east coast cities have fallen behind on their material recovery efforts.

More about Zero Waste.

Map: Otter Brook Road at Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest

Municipal Cash Incinerators

Andy | June 2, 2011

There is a new high-tech device coming to communities across America. It’s being billed as a solution to reduce government waste, create jobs, create “green” electricity, and best of all provide a great way to use taxpayer dollars. It’s called municipal cash incinerators.

Many people have not heard of the concept of burning taxpayer dollars to create electricity. Yet, studies have shown it’s a remarkably good way. Why burn perfectly good coal or natural gas, when you can burn municipal cash? We all know that renewables like solar and wind can not power a society. So there is only one real choice: Municipal Cash Incinerators.

How does this advanced technology work? Using a high-tech process, $1 bills bought using municipal tax dollars, obtained through property taxes and government grants, are burned in a large furnace that heats water to steam and turn a turbine. This turbine generates electricity. Best off all, because money is green in color, it is a green process. Moreover, money spend on cash burners will not be wasted on less productive governmental purposes like roads and schools.

There are many good reasons to burn municipal cash:

For one, if government starts hoarding $1 bills rather then storing the money in a normal bank account, city halls across the country would be overwhelmed with all this paper cash.
If this cash was used for productive purposes it would continue the money in the economic cycle and help drive inflation up.
Many conservatives feel that inflation is the biggest risk facing our society today.

Some activists are complaining about municipal cash incinerators. They say it’s stupid to burn taxpayer dollars. Some are even suggesting that constructing municipal cash incinerators is an outright fraud, a stealing of people’s hard earned dollars. So what? Government has to spend the public’s money somehow.