Miami Dade County Commissioners could vote on a controversial incinerator proposal on Tuesday – a year and a half after the Covanta plant burned down in Doral.
A massive showing of opposition is expected at Tuesday’s commission meeting at the Miami-Dade Government Center including more than 20 organizations, most environmental activists, who plan to protest the vote.
Since the Miami-Dade incinerator burned down in February 2023, the county has been seeking a location to build a new waste-to-energy plant.
There are 4 proposed locations:
- The current Doral location where the plant has sat in ruins since the fire.
- A site in Medley near NW 106th Street and NW 98th Court.
- A land swap deal with a developer that would allow the county to build it near West Okeechobee Road and NW 178th Street.
- The closed Opa-Locka West Airport site, which Miami Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava recommends.
In a memo, she says the Airport West location is the “best option” for multiple factors, including “cost, project timelines and the impact to residents and natural resources.”
In a video posted to Miramar’s website, Mayor Wayne Messam slammed Levine Cava for the recommendation, citing the close proximity of the Airport West site to his residents.
“This is a slap in the face to the over 250,000 residents who will be directly impacted,” Messam said. “This is a terrible and mind-boggling recommendation by Miami Dade Mayor Levine Cava. This recommendation threatens the air we breathe, the land we live on and the wildlife that we are stewards of regardless of the technology advances that they claim. It’s incomprehensible that we are having this conversation in 2024.”
The City of Miramar is planning to bus residents to Tuesday’s County Commission to pushback on a potential vote. In the past, Messam has threatened to sue Miami-Dade County if they approve any of the two sites that are near the Broward County line.
Mackenzie Marcelin, the Climate Justice Director for Florida Rising, told NBC6 they want other options that are more environmentally friendly.
“A set of policies and projects to lower our consumption so that we can divert our waste away from incineration and landfills,” Marcelin said. “Linking the incinerator with the zero-waste project is antithetical to each other.”
But Joe Kilsheimer of the Florida Waste to Energy Coalition says modern incinerators are far better than those built decades ago.
“It’s one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States. The emissions control features of a waste to energy facility are extensive and protective of human health,” Kilsheimer said. “There’s a price to be paid for living in paradise. One of those prices is, you have to have the infrastructure needed to serve the population.”
Kilsheimer says emissions from the burned waste go through several filtering steps before emissions are released through smokestacks. Although carbon dioxide is admitted into the air, Levine Cava has stated that modern incinerators meet or exceed EPA standards.
If built, the Miami-Dade incinerator would be the largest one in the country.
Levine Cava is hosting a public town hall on Monday night at 6:30 in Doral to answer questions about the proposed plans.
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