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Showing posts with label MD co Frederick Co Issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MD co Frederick Co Issues. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

20080318 Frederick News Post Tourism Council opposes incinerator by Karen Gardner


Frederick County Tourism Council opposes incinerator by Karen Gardner


Originally published March 18, 2008


http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display_comments.htm?StoryID=72590#postComments


By Karen Gardner News-Post Staff

The Tourism Council of Frederick County echoed Monocacy National Battlefield's concerns that the county's proposed waste-to-energy plant, also known as an incinerator, will detract from the historic nature of the battlefield.

The proposed plant would be across the Monocacy River from the park boundary. Last week, the Civil War Preservation Trust said the plant's smokestack would loom over the battlefield.

[…]

Read the entire article here: Frederick County Tourism Council opposes incinerator by Karen Gardner

For more information on Waste Management and Waste to Energy issues please click on: Environmentalism Solid Waste Management; Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Waste to Energy; or… Energy Independence or Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Recycling or the label, Environmentalism.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

20071204 Citizens crusade against incinerator By Meg Bernhardt Frederick News Post

Citizens crusade against incinerator

Originally published in Frederick News-Post on December 04, 2007

By Meg Bernhardt , News-Post Staff

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Public hearing on the siting and construction of a publicly owned Waste To Energy plant, or incinerator that generates electricity, in Frederick County

WHEN: 7 p.m., Dec. 11

WHERE: Winchester Hall, 12 E. Church Street, Frederick

WHO: Open to the public

For more information: www.wastestudygroup.org

and www.co.frederick.md.us, Utilities and Solid Waste Division.

To sign the petition or see what it says, e-mail Sally Sorbello at sallysbeadworks@msn.com.

[…]

Members of the nonprofit citizen organizations Friends of Frederick County and the Waste Study Group went door-to-door last weekend. They will continue their efforts this week, encouraging residents to take action against the incinerator.

The Frederick County Commissioners will hold a hearing on the incinerator, also called a waste to energy plant, next week.

The citizen advocacy groups encourage residents to testify at the hearing, sign a petition, send in post cards and e-mail the commissioners, said Friends of Frederick County Executive Director Janice Wiles.

The groups favor aiming for recycling rates as high as 65 percent to 75 percent instead of building an expensive incinerator that they say will produce toxic air pollution.

A regional waste-to-energy plant, shared with Carroll County, could cost $323 million. Frederick County would pay $194 million of that, and with bond interest, the total shared cost of the plant would be close to $600 million, they said.

Read the rest of the article here: Citizens crusade against incinerator

And please report dead links…

Thursday, November 15, 2007

20071112 Frederick County seeks Carroll participation in trash incinerator

Frederick County seeks Carroll participation in trash incinerator

Hat Tip: Mrs. Owl

See also the Carroll County Times editorial from November 14, 2007:

“Talk some trash with the county” [And please report dead links…]

Related: Environmentalism Solid Waste Management or Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Recycling or Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Waste to Energy

And:

20070721 Frederick News-Post Letter to the Editor: “Trash talk no longer funny” by Gregor Becker

19880900 To Burn or Not to Burn an interview with Neil Seldman

19960900 The Five Most Dangerous Myths About Recycling

20070912 Carroll County EAC votes to promote recycling by Carrie Ann Knauer

Nov 12, 2007 AP

WESTMINSTER, Md. (Map, News) - The Frederick County commissioners are awaiting a response from Carroll County about the latter's possible participation in a waste-to-energy incinerator to serve both counties.

The incinerator could be discussed at a Nov. 19 workshop on Carroll County solid waste alternatives, said Cindy Parr, Carroll County's director of administrative services.

Carroll County public works director Mike Evans said the workshop will explore options for handling trash, including recycling, composting, burning and landfills.

The Frederick County Commissioners are considering a 1,500-ton-per-day incinerator.

---

http://www.examiner.com/a-1043996~Frederick_County_seeks_Carroll_participation_in_trash_incinerator.html

Information from: Carroll County (Md.) Times, http://www.carrollcounty.com/

Monday, July 23, 2007

20070721 Frederick News-Post Letter to the Editor: “Trash talk no longer funny” by Gregor Becker

Frederick News-Post Letter to the Editor: “Trash talk no longer funny” by Gregor Becker

'Trash talk' no longer funny

Originally published July 21, 2007

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_lte.htm?storyid=62768

The July 11 editorial oversimplifies the trash issue.

[See: 20070711 “Trash talk” - Frederick News-Post editorial]

And also see: 20070714 Solid Waste Management Forum at Frederick Community College

The county has only pursued a $100 million waste-to-energy facility without even trying to reduce its waste stream. Comprehensive recycling programs are lacking countywide, while the landfill has been filled with recyclable materials for the last 15 years.

Disposal -- landfill, incineration, etc. -- is going to be expensive. Why not get the county to commit to maximizing recycling over the next three years and then look at the disposal needs after that. Why not generate income from some waste before we burn or bury it?

Officials have taken industry-funded WTE tours in Europe, but have not investigated recycling programs or composting and materials recovery facilities in Delaware, New Jersey and elsewhere. These options aren't being researched because they aren't a part of the county's chosen "integrated approach."

Residents might ask how viable is a technology that even a Fortune 500 company won't put up the capital for? According to budget reports, the Montgomery County facility processed 640,101 tons of waste in 2004, generating 387,141 megawatt hours of electricity valued at $15M, or $23.43 per ton. But, per ton, the net operating cost was $21.78 and the net debt service cost was $42.36.

That year, Montgomery County spent $41M to operate and upgrade the facility. Not included in this figure: non-financed capital of $2.09M; non-contract operating costs of $772,000 for risk management; county work worth $275,134; residue disposal of $10.80 per ton; and charge backs to the Department of Environmental Protection worth $43,603.

Do Frederick residents want this annual bill and to pay increased tipping fees or higher taxes? Or would they prefer working together to reduce their waste stream before deciding if a capital-intensive disposal method is necessary?

GREGOR BECKER

conservation chair

Sierra Club Catoctin Group

Monday, July 16, 2007

20070714 Solid Waste Management Forum at Frederick Community College

The panelists from left to right: David Dunn, Chair, Frederick County Solid Waste Advisory Committee - Moderator; Robert Ernst, Recycling Manager, Harford County, Maryland – “Recycling in Harford County, Maryland”; Lori Scozzafava, Deputy Executive Director, Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) – National Waste Management Perspective”; Pamela Gratton, Recycling Director, Fairfax County, Virginia – “Integrated Waste Management”; Richard Brandes, Chief, Waste Minimization Branch US EPA Office of Solid Waste – “USEPA Waste Management Perspective”

Solid Waste Management Forum at Frederick Community College

July 14th, 2007

Solid Waste Management Forum at Frederick Community College: A quick overview of those in attendance Saturday, July 14, 2007, when Frederick and Carroll County Government in Maryland sponsored a forum on solid waste issues such as recycling, resource recovery, and integrated waste management.

The event took place in the Jack B. Kussmaul Theater at Frederick Community College from 9 AM to 12 PM

The event was not as well attended as many would have liked but nevertheless, hopefully there were enough folks there to continue a discussion of alternative ways of managing municipal solid waste instead of collecting it and burying it in the ground.

For more information on Waste Management and Waste to Energy issues please click on: Environmentalism Solid Waste Management; Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Waste to Energy; or… Energy Independence or the label, Environmentalism.


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Sunday, July 15, 2007

20070711 “Trash talk” - Frederick News-Post editorial

“Trash talk” - Frederick News-Post editorial

Trash talk

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_editorial.htm?StoryID=62346

Originally published July 11, 2007

When it comes to trash, no one could claim that local government is ignoring the subject. Elected officials and county managers are acutely aware that solutions are required, and they are diligently at work exploring a range of them.

That doesn't mean that any solution(s) they ultimately decide on are going to sit well with all residents. So far, every attempt to address Frederick County's mounting (pun intended) trash problems have been met with resistance from other-minded people, including environmentalists, recycling enthusiasts and, in particular, those whose lives and property would be most impacted.

Solutions that have been proposed include a permanent new transfer station from which to send the country's trash elsewhere, raising the height of the Reichs Ford Road landfill, and constructing a waste-to-energy incinerator that would generate electricity from the heat produced by burning trash.

Opposition to any and all of these proposals is understandable. No one wants increased truck traffic, a higher, more visible landfill with potential safety issues, or a huge, expensive incinerating/generating facility in his or her backyard.

Still, all these potential solutions have been extensively researched and decisions to consider them were not arrived at frivolously or without considering their negative as well as their positive qualities.

The bottom line, however, is that this county generates a huge quantity of trash -- one that will only increase in coming years -- and effective method(s) of addressing its disposal or destruction are imperative. And while recycling is a positive, worthwhile and attractive endeavor that should be encouraged and can be part of the solutions mix, it alone is not the be-all and end-all to Frederick County's trash problem.

There is no solution to Frederick County's trash question that does not involve some negatives, whether they be financial, environmental or aesthetic. It's trash, folks.

It appears as though local officials are pursuing a multi-pronged approach to this issue, with some of the options -- such as the landfill height extension and transfer station -- being stop-gap measures. In the end, a more comprehensive, permanent solution, perhaps in the form of a waste-to-energy incinerator, will likely have to be embraced.

Local officials are acutely tuned in to this issue, as well they should be, and are thoroughly investigating a number of options. But again, when it comes to trash, there is no such thing as a perfect, negative-free solution.

If there were, trash wouldn't be such a dirty word.