Background for 2/10/99 Statehouse Rally

1. FYI-Background info for the NESWC closure event at the statehouse 2/10.
(from Jill)

The NESWC Incinerator Closes: WHERE DOES THE TRASH GO?

a. Closure is sane statewide solid waste policy.

With dioxin, mercury and other toxins emitted by trash incinerators building up to levels in our food and our own bodies that are dangerous to our health, we need to begin now to phase out trash incineration.

Since landfills also threaten our health, the sane policy is to work as fast as possible to change what we purchase and throw away (waste reduction and reducing the use of toxic chemicals) and to recycle and compost as much as possible.

We cannot achieve this goal all at once, but we need to invest greater public monies toward achieving it. The retrofit proposed for the NESWC incinerator, which will not truly reduce the toxic output of the incinerator, but only shift toxins from the air to the ash landfill, will cost about $35 million dollars. Since it has been the most polluting incinerator, and it would cost the most to retrofit, it makes sense to avoid this waste of money by closing this incinerator first.

Otherwise, this incinerator will demand more trash and work against recycling for the next 20 years. Just think what we might be able to do toward waste reduction and recycling in 20 years-if we invest in it!

b. Reduction and Recycling can make up for NESWC closure in the near future.

The NESWC incinerator accepts only about 6% of the municipal solid waste generated in Massachusetts.(In fact, only approximately half of the trash burned at NESWC is actually generated by NESWC contract towns. ) Its closure would therefore mean that as a commonwealth we need to reduce waste and recycle only 6% more than expected levels to make up the difference.

Massachusetts has a recycling goal of 46%, if we do not make this goal, we have a problem anyway. The state will need even more dangerous landfills or incinerators. We need to move aggressively to a higher goal of at least 52% recycling (46% plus 6% for NESWC capacity closed). This is achievable, 31 communities in this state already recycle over 50%, 14 communities recycle over 56%.

If it takes us a few years to reach this goal, Massachusetts would be justified in exporting trash for a few years. The state had so many landfills and incinerators in the 90s that we were a net importer of trash for several years.

c. NESWC communities could have other nearby disposal options.

Three other large trash incinerators are within an easy drive time of the towns that send trash to NESWC. There are large incinerators in Haverhill, Saugus, and Millbury (the latter two owned by the same company as NESWC). If we all reduce and recycle more, capacity in those facilities will be freed up for NESWC trash. General calculations show that if all the communities sending trash to NESWC and the three other nearby incinerators recycled about 56% of their trash, sufficient capacity would become available for all the NESWC trash. We would still incinerate the remaining waste, but overall burning less and recycling more!

2. (from Tom Cobb at Clean Water Action)

Hello All,

The Citizen's Delegation to the State House is this Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 10:30am in Hearing Room B-1. We now have 6 State Representatives who have agreed to speak for closure!

Representative Barry R. Finegold
Representative Rachel Kaprielian
Representative Anne Paulsen
Representative Pamela P. Resor
Representative Jose L. Santiago
Representative Theodore C. Speliotis

Thanks for all your help and phone calls. It's really making a difference. Let's keep it up. If these are your reps, let's support them for speaking out. If your reps name isn't on the list, call up and ask why!

We will present petitions with over 2000 signatures at the Governor's office and go around discussing the closure issue with the individual legislators. Come if you can, and spread the word to others. The more, the better.