Politicians'/Candidates' Positions on the Waste-to-Energy Incinerator
Download our door hanger with names of candidates opposed to the incinerator.
Pass it out and take it to the polls.
Vote Sept. 14 for those who oppose the waste-to-energy incinerator so we can cancel the contract!
"It is increasingly clear that ... it will be the next Board of County Commissioners that will have the final say about whether this debacle should continue or not."
— Comm. Kai Hagen
It is now apparent that the next election cycle to fill the positions on the Board of Frederick County Commissioners promises to be, in large part, sought by candidates who either oppose the facility or support it. Those who support it will probably argue that the current board has approved the facility and it is time to move forward with the project. Those opposed to the facility will campaign on their promise — should they be elected to a majority of the board's positions — to overturn the current board's decision to build it.
— Don Kornreich, FNP 6/28/10
You decide: has the BOCC upheld its mission statement "to preserve and enhance the quality of life for all citizens by ensuring optimum services, open government, and creative use of community resources" by choosing to move forward with building an incinerator? The BOCC rejected further research of technology similar to ArrowBio (anaerobic digestion), which would fit into its mission (the incinerator does not), the county's "A Crossroads for Clean Energy Proposal (PDF)" and the establishment of the Office of Sustainability for a "sustainable community, a happy community, living within our means and providing an environment where we can prosper" (also see letter to Maryland Clean Energy Center, PDF).
2010 Frederick County Board of County Commissioner Candidates
Send an e-mail to all the Frederick County candidates expressing your concerns!
| Politician | Party | Position on Incinerator | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellis Burruss | Democrat | Opposed | "I pledge, if elected, to act immediately to end Frederick County's participation in the proposed incinerator." | Email Website Facebook |
| Robert S. Craig | Republican | Opposed | "I have always opposed the current incinerator design, agreement and location." | |
| Kirby Delauter | Republican | In favor | "Yes, it lets Frederick County control its own destiny." Prefers EastAlco location for incinerator and agrees with Jan Gardner on incinerator finances. | |
| Micky Fyock | Republican | In favor | "I support it. (BBM) Build it, Burn it and Move on." | |
| David P. Gray, incumbent | Republican | In favor, voted for it | "The incinerator is a viable solution to a problem that needs an immediate answer." | |
| Kai Hagen, incumbent | Democrat | Opposed, voted against it | "If re-elected, I, Kai Hagen, am absolutely committed to voting to end Frederick County's participation in the 1,500 tons per day regional Waste-to-Energy (incinerator) project as soon as possible after the new Board of County Commissioners is installed on December 1, 2010." | Email Facebook |
| Alan Imhoff | Republican | In favor | "I support the decision to move forward with WTE. While not the perfect solution, it provides for a long-term plan to handle a majority portion of the waste stream. As other programs and new technologies come to the fore, hopefully some of them will be incorporated into this overall long-term waste management plan. I do not see any “silver bullet” technology but rather a balanced approach that could handle current and future technology." | |
| Dick Johnson | Republican | In favor | "Yes, I support the proposed WTE Facility. Recycling and composting will not solve our trash problems." | |
| Elaine Kessinger | Republican | Opposed | "As it stands now, I am opposed to the WTE project. We are slowly crawling out of a very serious recession and there are huge projections regarding the incinerator revenue generation outlook. We are enduring the aftermath of the greatest global financial crisis ever, and because of this the citizens of Frederick County should be skeptical of any promises that come off of that. No matter how sure the government may think their numbers are right, never overlook the possibility that everything may go wrong. We need to truly understand the economic and environmental risks involved." | |
| Michael Kurtianyk | Democrat | In favor | "I am convinced that the best course of action is to move forward with this project as approved by the current Board of County Commissioners." | |
| Linda Norris | Democrat | Opposed | "I do not support the incinerator project. An incinerator, as a solid waste system, does not encourage the reduction of waste. An RFP for recycling/composting systems that would provide an alternative to the incinerator for handling a large portion of the county's waste should be the first order of business for the new board." | Email Website Facebook |
| Billy Shreve | Republican | In favor | "The incinerator should be built at the Reichs Ford Rd. landfill." | |
| Paul Smith | Republican | In favor | "I support the current WTE incinerator project that is planned for the McKinney site on the Monocacy River." | |
| Roy Taylor | Republican | In favor | ||
| Jerry Trout | Democrat | Opposed | "...the incinerator is my last resort and I am not interested in generating electricity from a waste stream product." | |
| Bob White | Republican | Opposed | "The incinerator contracts appear to leave the Frederick and Carroll County taxpayers at dangerous risk for cost escalation and the potential necessity to burn recyclables. The siting at McKinney, directly next to and in the viewshed of the Monocacy National Battlefield — our county's historic Civil War treasure, is unacceptable." | Email Website Facebook |
| Ralph W. Whitmore | Democrat | In favor | "The Waste to Energy incinerator at Mckinney Industrial Park is the "best of a bad situation." | |
| Janice Wiles | Democrat | Opposed | "I am firmly against the construction of a large waste incinerator (WTE) planned for Frederick County for fiscal, environmental and social reasons." | Email Website Facebook |
| Blaine Young, incumbent | Republican | In favor | "Yes, I support WTE but not at the McKinney site." |
2010 Carroll County Board of County Commissioner Candidates
Comments taken from Carroll County Times article.
| District | Politician | Party | Position on Incinerator | Comments | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael T. Blair | Republican | Opposed | "I don't support the waste to energy facility out in Frederick. One, because I think the technology is rather old at this point ... I don't think any of the citizens really support it either, and quite frankly, if we're going to be a representative government then we have to abide by what the citizens want." | |
| Ron Buczkowski | Republican | Opposed | "The main reason I do not support the incinerator is because of the money. Not only the money to pay for it, buy it, borrow — of course debt has to be paid off all those years — but also the operating costs of it year after year." | Website | |
| George Butler | Republican | ||||
| Robin Bartlett Frazier | Republican | Opposed | "I've had an opportunity to get some information from different people and get different points of view. I don't have all the information but I have a general opinion. From what I've seen it appears that the... numbers are such that it's not a good deal." | ||
| Tina Mawhinney | Democrat | Undecided | "I'm still on the fence about it. I don't think I'm informed enough as yet to make a decision on it. I see the pros that people have pointed out and I see the cons." | ||
| Vincent C. Pacelli | Republican | Opposed | "I am opposed to the incinerator for a number of reasons. One, this deal with Frederick County: they can't seem to figure out amongst themselves what they want to do. This does not bode well for the future." | ||
| Steve Reynolds | Republican | ||||
| 2 | Stephen Buettner | Republican | In favor | "Waste-to-energy is a great concept and I hope we can make it work for Carroll County. However, there are several issues that need to be addressed before we approve the final plan." | |
| Brian K. DiMaggio | Republican | Opposed | "I'm against any more capital expenditures. For the main reason, I don't want to see us in any more debt. There's too many questions unanswered about whether this thing will be self-sufficient or not, whether tipping fees are going to go through the roof, so no, as of right now I'm not for it." | ||
| Haven Shoemaker | Republican | Opposed | "I'm convinced that while we need a long term solution to disposal of solid waste, I'm not convinced a $600 million investment in a technology that will probably be outdated in a few years is the right way to go, particularly when we're obligating ourselves to this particular mode of waste disposal for 30 years." | ||
| Julia Walsh Gouge | Republican | Opposed | "I'm not in favor of an incineration plant in Frederick County or Carroll County. I have never felt that was the way we needed to go. When it was talked about many years ago I had the same feeling." | ||
| 3 | Kevin Baer | Republican | In favor | "In some ways I'm for it because we can't keep filling up the landfills. Years ago my dad lived on a farm that was purchased by the bureau of Hanover to be a landfill and filled in and 20-30 years later its able to be farmed over again, but I often wonder about the quality of water around that neighborhood." | |
| Michelle Jefferson | Republican | Opposed | "I do not support building the incinerator whether it would be a joint effort or not. There are plenty of other options that we can do and try that aren't going to cost us anything or hardly anything at all." | Email Website Twitter Facebook | |
| Gary W. Johnson | Republican | Opposed | "I do not [support the incinerator]. The reason why is because the cost to Carroll County citizens is too much." | ||
| Mary Kowalski | Republican | ||||
| Doug Mathias | Republican | In favor | "Not at this time. I'd like to see it revisited, the decision, the entire project revisited by the new commissioners when they're elected for December... ." | ||
| Dave Roush | Republican | In favor | "We need to do something in the long term about ... waste disposal. It appears [that] we're either going to be landfilling it or converting it into energy. I think the technology to burn municipal waste to make energy is there and that it can be done safely and cleanly, but I'm not sure the current deal is the best deal for Carroll County." | ||
| 4 | Christopher Eric Bouchat | Republican | Opposed | "Regardless whether someone right now is for or against the incinerator there [are] no finances to support it, so therefore I can not support it. The money is just not there." | |
| Michele W. Johnson | Democrat | Opposed | "I strongly oppose the incinerator. The biggest part of my opposition is the outrageous cost. I feel this cost will lead our county to financial disaster. I also have concerns for the potential of environmental and health risks." | ||
| David Jones | Republican | Opposed "at this time" | "Not at this time. My biggest concern is the cost of it and forcing the citizens of Carroll County to pay for a 30 year bond that may turn out to be something that could've been either built differently, smaller or maybe not do it at all." | ||
| Perry Leroy Jones Jr. | Republican | Opposed | "At this time I do not support [the incinerator]. I just think that the numbers keep changing a lot on us right now, you know, as far as what the cost is going to be in the long term... ." | ||
| George E. Maloney | Democratic | In favor | "I can't give you a direct answer. I wish I could, but I have a great respect for Don West, [an incinerator opponent]...I love the idea of recycling everything and I love the idea of taking waste and making electricity out of it, that just appeals to me a lot." | ||
| Hank Martin | Republican | In favor | "I think it needs to be looked at, probably the whole thing has to start over is where I stand. I don't rule it out completely, but I don't like the way it's been handled so far." | ||
| Richard S. Rothschild | Republican | Opposed | "I'm already on record in the newspapers as opposing it as it is currently structured. And I oppose it because it's not financially well justified." | Email Website | |
| 5 | Doug Howard | Republican | Opposed | "I oppose the building of the incinerator for a couple of reasons. First of all I think that it's a project that there are still way too many questions for, unanswered questions for how committed we already are. Secondly I think its way too expensive...." | Website |
| Hugh M. McLaurin | Democrat | Opposed | "I'm opposed to it ... basically I'm opposing the incinerator on a cost basis. There's an awful lot of uncertainty in the cost estimates right now." | ||
| Marcel van Rossum | Republican | Opposed | "I do not [support the incinerator] for a number of reasons. First of all it discourages any conservation efforts that the county may want to instill." | ||
| Michael D. Zimmer | Republican | Voted for incinerator | "I support the process moving forward, and I voted to move the process forward. " | Email Website |
2010 Maryland House of Delegate Candidates
| District | Politician | Party | Position on Incineration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3A | Candy Greenway | Democrat | Opposed |
| 3A | Galen Clagett | Democrat | |
| 3A | Patrick Hogan | Republican | |
| 3A | Chris Huckenpoehler | Republican | |
| 3A | Chuck Knapp | Republican | |
| 3A | Scott Rolle | Republican | |
| 3B | Michael Hough | Republican | Opposed |
| 3B | Paul Gilligan | Democrat | |
| 3B | Charles A. Jenkins | Republican | In favor, voted for it as Frederick County commissioner: "...the issue of WTE is of paramount importance to me and to the long-term interest of the County" |
| 4A | John L. Thompson Jr., Frederick County commissioner | Republican | In favor, voted for it as Frederick County commissioner |
2010 Maryland State Senate Candidates
| District | Politician | Party | Position on Incineration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Alex Mooney | Republican | Opposed |
| 3 | Don DeArmon | Democrat | |
| 3 | Ron Young | Democrat | |
| 16 | Brian Frosh | Democrat | Opposed |
