Solid Waste Action Team,   http://www.lexingtonma.org/swat/HomePage.htm

1. Notice received in the mail about a meeting:

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF ENRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Metropolitan Boston - Northeast Regional Ofrice

ARGEO PAUL CELLUCCI,Govemor TRUTDY COXE, Secretary DAVID B. STRUHS, Commissioner

Nuts & Bolts of Pay-as-You-Throw:

A Working Session

Geared for elected officials and planners in communities considering adopting a Pay-as-You-Throw program for managing solid waste management costs. Topics include: obtaining political support, pros and cons of bags and stickers, establishing pricing structures, selling the public, distributing bags or stickers.

Come hear from municipal officials who have been there!

Solid waste managers, health agents, finance directors, DPW personnel, town administrators, and volunteer committee members will provide tips on how to implement and maintain a successful program.

Wednesday, July 15, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. (sandwiches provided)

DEP's Northeast Regional Office

205 Lowell Street (route 129)

Wilmington, MA

Contact Joanne Bissetta at 978-661-7667 to register

Directions to Northease Regional Office:

From I-93, take exit 38 (route 129). At end of the ramp, head WEST on route 129 toward Wilmington. Turn left at second set of lights (Woburn St.). DEP's parking lot is the first driveway on the right.

For special accommodations for this event, contact Joanne Bissetta at this address or call 978-661-7667.

This infonmation is available in alternate format by calling our ADA Coordinator at (617) 574-6872.

205a Lowell St. Wilmington, MA 0 1 887 * Phone (978) 661-7600 9 Fax (978) 661-7615 , TDD # (978) 661-7679

Nuts & Bolts of Pay-as-You-Throw: A Working Session

Closing a landfill? Solid waste costs up? Come join us for a roundtable discussion about the details of setting up and running a Pay-as-You-Throw program. Expert panelists from neighboring cities and towns will help answer your toughest questions.

Preliminary Agenda

5:00 - 5:30 Welcome, introductions, have a bite to eat

5:30 - 6:15 How to get local authorization Do you need/want to go before Town Meeting? Selling the politicians.

6:15 - 6:45 Rate structure - pros and cons of different rate structures. How to set a workable rate. DEP grant offerings.

6:45 - 7:00 Break

7:00 - 7:30 Logistics - bags vs. stickers, distribution and accounting methods

7:30 - 8:00 Selling the public - outreach strategies, resources available, making sure adequate recycling/composting alternatives are in place and funded, addressing illegal dumping.

2. [NOTE: Following story is from the Philadelphia Inquirer. It concerns a municipal trash incinerator that is not cost effective compared to landfilling. The director of the waste authority has a plan to save the incinerator by forcing towns to subsidize the facility. Sound familiar? - John Andrews]

PLAN TO SAVE INCINERATOR IS OUTLINED THE MONTCO WASTE SYSTEM AUTHORITY PROPOSES DROPPING ON-SITE TIPPING FEES AT THE PLYMOUTH FACILITY.

Friday, February 20, 1998 Page: B02

By Douglas Belkin, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT

The executive director of the Montgomery County Waste System Authority unveiled a plan yesterday that aims to save the beleaguered incinerator in Plymouth from financial implosion by getting rid of on-site tipping fees and directly charging the 24 towns that dump their trash there. Because tipping fees at the incinerator are almost twice as high as those at area landfills, haulers have an incentive to avoid the incinerator, owned by Montenay Energy Resources of Montgomery County. The subsequent diminished volume of trash reduces the incinerator's economy of scale and translates into higher rates.

If the new system outlined by Timothy Hartman at yesterday's county commissioners' meeting is implemented by Jan. 1, towns would pay the incinerator directly and haulers would pay nothing to dump trash. As a result, the volume of trash is projected to increase by about 8 percent, according to a report delivered to the commissioners Wednesday.

``We would have the marketplace work in our favor,'' said Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel 3d. ``The incentives would be to get the trash to the incinerator, which is what we want.''

Many details, including how all this would affect the rates paid by residents of the 24 towns - among the county's most populous - are still to be worked out. Hartman said increased volume could result in lower rates, but that was not yet certain. Others said they expected no change in rates. ``Residents here pay $180 for trash [pickup],'' said Hatboro Manager Al Herrmann, a member of the panel that studied the issue. ``And basically [when the plan is implemented], I think it will be a wash.''

The plan comes at a critical juncture: The waste authority, which, along with the county, enforces the agreement between Montenay and the 24 municipalities, is facing a Feb. 28 deadline for an extension of the letter of credit needed to keep the incinerator running.

Banque Paribas, which holds the letter of credit, has informally indicated that it would deny an extension request under the current operating system. Instead, the bankers have said, they want to see a workable plan that will ensure the trash-to-steam plant's survival.

The committee that produced the report was appointed by the county commissioners in the fall after the municipalities bound contractually to the Montenay plant began to strain under the high fees charged - $75 per ton for residential trash, $58.50 for commercial refuse. There was even talk of selling the plant or defaulting on its bonds.

The two dozen towns banded together to build the plant in the mid-1980s, when landfill space was at a premium. As a group, the towns are bound by contract through 2011 to deliver 280,000 tons of trash a year to Montenay. If they fall short, they must still pay the fees for that tonnage.

Because of the higher fees, haulers who pick up trash from those towns do not like to take it to Montenay, but they are typically obligated to do so under the terms of the individual municipal contracts. The less haulers pay in tipping fees, the more they pocket, hence the desire to dump elsewhere.

There were some points of the plan with which the county commissioners disagreed. In particular, the plan calls for the county to release the waste authority from millions of dollars worth of debt. ``I don't think the whole county should have to pay for something that will

affect 24 towns,'' Hoeffel said.

Those points are likely to be taken out of the plan because they did not seem likely to receive approval by the county commissioners.

``But that's minor stuff,'' said Herrmann. ``The main thing is they liked it.''

(c) 1998 PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

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3. [NOTE: One of the questions the SWAT would like answered is what the plans are for alternatives to incineration should the incinerator be unavailable for a time due to mechanical failure, accident, natural disaster, etc. The article below suggests one type of incident that might take the facility out of service for repairs. - John Andrews]

[FROM PORTLAND PRESS HERALD ]

NERVES RATTLED BY TRASH PLANT TANK EXPLOSION

Friday, April 3, 1998 Page: 1B

From staff reports

An explosion at Maine Energy Recovery Co. Thursday morning rattled a few nerves, but caused no injuries or damage to the trash-to-incineration plant. Officials say the explosion occurred in the plant's primary shredder when something - probably a propane gas tank - blew up around 9:45 a.m. The explosion set off a fire that was partially doused by the shredder's sprinkler system before Biddeford firefighters finished putting it out. Guy Senechal, operations manager at the plant, said small firecracker-like explosions inside the shredder occur regularly when small propane canisters aren't detected before the trash is dumped into the shredder. Senechal said Thursday's blast was probably caused by a larger propane tank - like one used with gas-powered barbecue grills.

He said the shredder is encased in a concrete ``explosion chamber'' designed to withstand explosions caused by gas cylinders and other pressurized containers that might blow up inside the shredder.

``We have smaller explosions that happen monthly,'' Senechal said. ``This one was bigger than usual, but it wasn't unheard of.''

The plant was back up and running before noon and the exact cause of the explosion was not determined, company officials said.

4. In Nov there is likely to buy a Use Less Stuff day, and a Buy Nothing day around T-day/peak-shopping.

5. [Note: The Reuters article below describes some of the problems that have occurred in Frace due to dioxin from trash incinerators. Note that health authorities closed three incinerators after detecting elevated levels of dioxin in nearby dairy cattle. - John Andrews]

Dioxin Levels High in French Meat

By Christopher Noble PARIS, May 25 (Reuters)

Dioxins stored in the fat of the mother are transmitted to child during pregnancy and breastfeeding An independent environmental monitoring group said on Monday it found high levels of cancer-causing dioxin in samples of French meat and called on the government to ban garbage incineration. The Paris-based National Centre for Independent Information on Wastes (CNIID) said it found health-threatening levels of the pollutant in meat samples bought at several Paris supermarkets.

"The dioxin contamination found in meat is in addition to that already known to be found in milk and milk products," CNIID director Pierre-Emmanuel Neurohr said in a statement. "The real problem is the accumulation of these pollutants in fatty human organs. The dioxins stored there are transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and breastfeeding," he said.

The French government, while playing down the danger, nevertheless conceded that its estimates of average daily intake of dioxins could not be considered totally risk-free. It said in a statement issued late on Monday that average exposure to dioxins in France was between one and five picograms per kilo of body weight per day, less than the level considered safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The WHO sets ten picograms per kilo per day as its safety threshold, considerably higher than most national authorities. The French statement, which quoted a March 17 report by the National Public Hygiene Council, was issued jointly by the ministries of health, agriculture and environment. It conceded that some young children were ingesting more than the level considered safe by WHO. The average exposure in France can be estimated from the limited available information at between one and five picograms per kilo of body weight per day. However, because of their low body weight, some children consuming contaminated products can go over ten picograms," the statement said. The Hygiene Council said it was only possible to exclude all risk if dioxin intake was below one picogram per kilo per day.

The statement did not refer directly to the CNIID's results on meat and instead dealt with the general level of dioxins. "Some risk areas deserve corrective action (closing incinerators, equipping them with filters) and/or moves to pull food products if they surpass safe levels," the statement said.

CNIID said laboratory tests found alarming dioxin levels in beef steaks, ground beef and veal chops. It said a typical daily diet of meat and dairy products led to consumption levels well above French food safety standards.

The group could not say whether the contamination levels it found were typical for all meats in all parts of the country but said it feared contamination could be even higher in areas near where garbage is incinerated. The dioxin produced by burning rubbish falls on pasture-land, is taken up by grass and then stored in the fatty tissues of beef and dairy cows that eat the grass. In February, health authorities closed three incineration plants in northern France after excess levels of dioxin were detected in the milk of nearby dairy cows. The sale of milk in some areas was also temporarily banned this year but there have been no restrictions on beef sales. CNIID, citing official estimates, said between 1,800 and 5,200 people a year will die in France from cancer caused by dioxin, which is known to be toxic at extremely low levels.

Dioxin can also weaken the disease-fighting immune system, diminish fertility and cause birth defects. CNIID urged the government to ban garbage incineration. France has 300 waste incinerators, which Neurohr said was the highest in Europe. The CNIID advocates reducing the amount of waste produced and recommends recycling and composting as a way to deal with most domestic waste.

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