Neil Seldman/Mike Ewall/Judy Malstrom Zero Waste Dutchess Press Release re: Proposed Dutchess SWMP

Zero Waste Dutchess📷 - MEDIA ADVISORY - NATIONALLY KNOWN ZERO-WASTE EXPERTS OPPOSE DUTCHESS SWMP; INCINERATION IS MOST COSTLY/POLLUTING WAY TO DEAL WITH SOLID WASTE 300 JOBS COULD BE CREATED INSTEAD IN RECYCLING, COMPOSTING, & REUSE Dutchess County citizens and organizations like Zero Waste Dutchess and Working Class Dutchess are opposed to the proposed 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan based on the environmental assessment of nationally known anti-incineration expert Mike Ewall and economic risks and opportunity costs according to Neil Seldman, Zero Waste USA. The Dutchess County Legislature’s Environmental Committee will be voting Thursday, September 7th at 5:45 pm on the proposed Plan in the Legislature’s Chambers on the sixth floor of the Dutchess County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie; public comment will be allowed. Both Ewall and Seldman, well-respected expert analysts of solid waste management and recycling and composting systems, underscore the fact that waste incineration is the most expensive and most polluting method of disposing of municipal solid waste. “New York DEC and federal EPA data clearly shows that Dutchess County’s trash incinerator is the largest industrial air polluter in the county,” said Ewall. “The same is true for the other two trash incinerators in the Hudson Valley, all of which are run by the same company, Wheelabrator.” In 2011, when there were still eight coal-burning power plants in New York State, DEC documented that the state’s ten trash incinerators – all still operating – were far more polluting than the dirty old coal burners. “Anyone looking at that would be shocked, and cannot justify continuing to burn trash. The Dutchess County incinerator in Poughkeepsie puts out a whopping seven pounds of toxic mercury each year– literally enough to poison over 3100 lakes across the Hudson Valley and beyond, making fish in those lakes unsafe to eat– besides the 100,000 tons annually of global warming pollution that come out of that same smokestack,” said Judy Malstrom, Zero Waste Dutchess Co-Director.” “The science clearly shows that landfills are bad, but incinerating trash and landfilling toxic ash is even worse for health, climate, and environment. We know this from credible life cycle analysis studies,” said Ewall. “The county incinerator in Poughkeepsie also is the cause of well over ten million dollars a year in health problems due to its particulate emissions– we know this based on a recent analysis of a Baltimore incinerator completed by Dr. George D. Thurston of the New York University School of Medicine for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation,” noted Malstrom. Seldman points out that at least 300 good jobs, with family level wages and benefits, in recycling, composting and reuse would be created by small businesses. Seldman: “This is the way to expand and strengthen the local economy and tax base by using the resources under the County’s control– jobs in reuse would include building deconstruction and materials resale, appliance repair, mattress recycling, textile refashioning, electronic scrap repair and recycling, and composting (and composting products.” “Keep It Separate Stupid!” is what Seldman says is the key to the economics of municipal solid waste management– “If you mix all the materials it becomes waste and is expensive to manage. But if you keep materials separate they become valuable resources. Each time you separate, bale and ship materials to waiting markets, you add value to the local and regional economy” Ewall and Seldman focus on the shortcomings of the Plan: It calls for more incineration by building another plant. Moreover, the composting plan it calls for is hardly adequate for the needs of the County. Nearby Ulster County and Howard County, MD have comprehensive county-wide programs fully operational. Prince George’s County, MD developed an industrial scale facility with capacity that allows it to charge fees to other jurisdictions, which bring in compostable materials. This helps amortize the government’s investment. Ulster County is a prime example of how solid waste management can progress when officials make the right decisions. Manna Jo Greene, veteran Ulster County Legislator (D-Rosendale) and former long-time Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Environmental Director, points out that because Ulster County was so firmly against garbage incineration, the industry bypassed the county and focused on Dutchess and Westchester. Citizens in those counties got stuck with decades of pollution and high costs. Malstrom concluded: “Now is the time is now for Dutchess County to catch up to the Zero Waste movement that is growing rapidly in the US and overseas.” Zero Waste principles include 90% reduction of the waste stream, no incineration, organics out of landfills and bans on dangerous products and packages, according to the Zero Waste International Alliance. Zero Waste Dutchess and Working Class Dutchess are opposed to the Plan and is calling for the County to engage a Zero Waste consulting firm to provide a detailed plan that will include phasing out the incinerator and implementing strategies that have gotten other cities and counties to 60%, 70% and 80% reduction of their respective waste stream. [email zerowastedutchess@gmail.com or call 845-876-2488 for more information]