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I hear people say all the time that it is difficult to win public approval for a waste-to-energy (WTE) project, but it wasn’t until I attended my first hearing on the subject that I really understood what they were talking about.
On June 12, I arrived at the Estabrook Recreation Center in Cleveland for a public hearing on a draft air permit for a municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification plant within that city. I had no idea what I was walking into. About 60 residents filled the dated gymnasium, sitting in metal folding chairs and on wooden bleachers. Many of them were holding the same sign. One side said in bright red lettering, “No Cleveland Incinerator.” The other side said, “Yes Composting and Recycling.” Then there was the young woman wearing a gas mask and holding a sign that read, “Ohio is #1 for Air Pollution in the Nation.” One woman handed me a flyer filled with arguments against the proposed gasifier. Several groups were listed at the bottom of the flyer, including Ohio Citizen Action, Environmental Health Watch, Northeast Ohio Sierra Club and Coal and Energy Committee.
Representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlined the air pollution permit for the three gasifiers that would accept processed MSW and produce syngas. They also explained the limits on emissions to ensure compliance with state clean air standards and the pollution control system that would be in place. But it still wasn’t enough to convince the crowd.
As one woman so eloquently put it to city officials, “You’re so concerned about the children that you raised their school taxes, yet you have no problem poisoning them.”
And the comments just kept coming. “There are currently no commercial-scale solid waste gasification systems operating in the United States,” one resident pointed out. “The proposed incinerator remains an unproven combination of technologies that is untested worldwide.”
Whether these residents had their facts straight or whether their information is misguided, one thing is certain: They were extremely vocal about their opposition. Perhaps this gasification project is too expensive or pollutive an option for the city of Cleveland, but I can’t say that for certain. What I can say with certainty is that no one in support of the project spoke up or even attendended.
Where were those with the knowledge to counter the naysayers? Was there no one who could cite benefits, such as saved landfill space and greenhouse gas emissions savings. What about the amount of energy the facility could produce? Or an explanation of the emissions levels and how negligible they might be?
The WTE industry could do a better job educating the public on potential benefits. I hope publications such as this one can help the industry gain acceptance.
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