Why Are We Against Incineration?

Quality of Life Near an Incinerator

The following are real-life stories told to us by people who live in our area and who have lived or currently live near an incinerator. To contribute your story, please send us an e-mail.

Story 1: The Smell From the Dickerson Incinerator Makes My Throat Burn

Jane Hunter, who lives 1 mile from the Dickerson incinerator in Montgomery County. Here is her story.

She says she can smell it and comments on what the traffic and the trash trucks are like. When she walks out to the mailbox, it's in her view, but she tries to not think of it. Sometimes at night the smell of the burning wakes her up from her sleep. She said the smell of burning plastic is so strong sometimes that it literally feels like it's burning her throat.

As for the trash, it's not brought in by trucks as Frederick's would be, but by rail. That being said, there is a constant stream of traffic. Once per month, on a Saturday and Sunday starting at 7 am, there are explosions inside the plant, because that's the only way to get the built-up junk free from the pipes. It's very loud and they always hear it. The incinerator, she says, is a constant intrusion on her life.

Jane's father-in-law was born on that farm, so she and her husband are reluctant to move. Whenever someone asks her why they don't move, she instead asks them if people would move there. If you had a choice, would you move to that land next to an incinerator? Obviously, she would not.

In January of 2009 it was published that the Montgomery County incinerator is not running at full capacity, and it indeed hasn't been. That facility was set up to burn 2250 tons per day. Montgomery County does not have a mandatory recycling program in effect. Montgomery County began a recycling program when residents were in court fighting the proposal for the incinerator, which was made to look "environmentally friendly." At that time the county told residents they were at 36% to 37% recycling and that by 2000 it would be at 50%—yet it is still at the same level. They don't have single stream like Frederick does. Many of the apartments have a trash dumpster but not a recycling dumpster. It's an "out of sight, out of mind" type of mentality.

Because Covanta, the builder for the incinerator, has a never-ending income, it was very easy for the company to win against their lawyer. Jane mentioned one example during the court process where the Covanta lawyers talked about how bad peanut butter is for you and how it's actually worse for your health to eat peanut butter than it is to live by an incinerator! Covanta has technical people, lobbyists and attorneys, all whom are paid for their time, and they described her and others as "hysterical housewives."

When incinerator proponents say that no one was up in arms about building the the 2 power plants that are in that area, she explains that those were built in the 50s and no one had the knowledge then about the dangers like they had in the 90s, when the incinerator was built—a very unfair comparison.

Hear from other Montgomery County residents in this Frederick News Post article and in this Gazette article, in which Jane stated:

‘‘I despise it as much today as I did then. No, I despise it more. ‘If I had my druthers, I’d go over and blow it up. If I was a citizen in Frederick County, I would oppose it. It’s a horrible thing.”

Hear Jane Hunter on the radio talking about the Dickerson incinerator: hour 1, hour 2

Story 2: The Columbus, Ohio, Incinerator: Dioxins, Debt and Demolition

I lived in Columbus, Ohio, during the period 1984-1993, when the city built a $400-million trash-burning power plant. The plant had quite a few expensive repairs and problems during its existence. During that time, it was found by local citizen groups to be producing over 500 times the EPA allowable dioxin emissions. (Dioxin emissions by the way cannot, as I understand it, be constantly monitored as the technology does not yet exist to do so. Dioxin emissions can only be spot checked.) This plant was about 15 miles to the south west of my home and occasionally a terrible stench emanating from the plant came over the entire city.

After a few years, the city sold it to the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, who tried to manage it. However, the purchase and installation of new equipment to meet the new EPA requirements was so expensive that the authority decided to close the facility in 1993. The stacks were finally torn down in 2004. Columbus’ mayor, Michael Coleman, pressed the button to demolish the 300+ foot stacks. I believe he made a statement to the effect that the city of Columbus would not be building any new waste-to-energy incinerators. The ground where it stood, however, is badly polluted and something will have to be done about that if it is to be used for any future purpose. The SWA still owes about $23 million for the plant and is slowly paying it off.

This begs the question of where will the money come from when the EPA tightens its restrictions on emissions, which it certainly will resulting from the new technological innovations occurring almost daily in the field of pollution control. The Frederick waste-to-energy incinerator will not necessarily be grandfathered by the EPA, especially considering the resulting concern about the effects of pollution on the human population. Want to guess where the money will come from? I think we both know.

Charles Snyder

Story 3: Always Carry a Wet Cloth

As part of environmental emissions controls, the Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility (the Dickerson incinerator) utilizes anhydrous ammonia as a reagent. In the event of an off-site ammonia release, a siren will sound as notification. The siren is tested every month on the first Saturday at 1 pm. If at any other time the siren is heard, the following safeguards should be taken:

EMERGENCY ACTIONS

  1. Stay calm.
  2. Cover your nose and mouth with a wet cloth.
  3. If in the park, proceed to your vehicle and close all windows and vents.
  4. Leave the area, turn right, driving south on Martinsburg Road.
  5. If on the canal footpath, leave the area proceeding north or south by most expeditious route.
  6. If unable to leave, lie down in lowest area.
  7. Seek medical attention if respiratory problems persist.

Randy Elkins, who lives 3.5 miles from the incinerator, stated:

I live on South New Design Road, vicinity Route 28, Potomac River, C&O Canal, and have never heard this siren tested. I can see the facility in the near distance from my farm... I presume there are only two reasons regarding the siren: 1. It sounds and I don't hear it, or it is not loud enough; or 2. The siren is not being tested as stated. I was outside working on Saturday, April 4, first Saturday of the month, and did not hear a siren.

Stories From the News

Unintentional fire at Covanta's SEMASS trash burner in 2007 in Rochester, Massachusetts (PDF)

From the report: "Firefighters from six fire departments have scrambled to get it under control. ... The sheriff's office has asked neighbors in Rochester and Plymouth to tape up their doors and windows because the smoke is toxic."

[South Carolina] Incinerator likely to close

"People who live near the incinerator have said they want it to close because the smoke, odor, ash and truck traffic are ruining their quality of life."

Poolesville residents worry environmental causes could be responsible for rare sicknesses


 

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