You may or may not remember this, but it took a great deal of time, effort and contention to get Charlotte-Mecklenburg's 2009-2019 Waste Management Plan which effects Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville approved. Now that it's approved, it is, apparently, easy to alter.
Case in point: Tonight, the Charlotte City Council will decide whether or not to amend the waste management plan allowing the owners of the proposed ReVenture Park to turn our trash into something called "RDF," which they plan to both burn in their proposed incinerator and sell to other municipalities and energy companies so they, too, can burn our trash.
RDF is an acronym for "refuse-derived fuel." In other words, it's trash that's mushed into pellets and burned to create electricity.
The pellets are supposed to be plastic-free, but the pellets I've been allowed to inspect clearly had plastic in them and lots of it. This is a problem because burning plastic is horrible for our air quality and our health. Why? Because burning plastic can release cadmium, lead, and chemicals like benzene, dioxins, furans and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. As you might suspect, none of these are things you would want to breathe.
Beyond the question of burning trash, we need to look at the deals behind this deal:
And that's just skimming the surface of this important deal that's sailing through both local and state governments. That's why we're tagging anything related to the ReVenture Park project as urgent news to watch.
Further reading:
House panel gives extra energy credits to ReVenture Park The Charlotte Observer
Forsite picks ReVenture Park incinerator technology The Mecklenburg Times
The Risks of Incinerators, A Science Based Analysis Incinerator-Free Mecklenburg
Trash-To-Energy Plant Moving Ahead In Meck Co WFAE
Crucial Council Vote Tonight On Trash-To-Electricity Plan WFAE
ReVenture plant close to financing deal the Charlotte Business Journal
Here's some more information on one of the potential pollutants dioxin released when plastic is burned from Dr. Linda Birnbaum, a former EPA Toxicology Division director and current director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences:
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
The pellets are supposed to be plastic-free, but the pellets I've been allowed to inspect clearly had plastic in them and lots of it. This is a problem because burning plastic is horrible for our air quality and our health. Why? Because burning plastic can release cadmium, lead, and chemicals like benzene, dioxins, furans and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. As you might suspect, none of these are things you would want to breathe.
Beyond the question of burning trash, we need to look at the deals behind this deal:
And that's just skimming the surface of this important deal that's sailing through both local and state governments. That's why we're tagging anything related to the ReVenture Park project as urgent news to watch.
Further reading:
House panel gives extra energy credits to ReVenture Park The Charlotte Observer
Forsite picks ReVenture Park incinerator technology The Mecklenburg Times
The Risks of Incinerators, A Science Based Analysis Incinerator-Free Mecklenburg
Trash-To-Energy Plant Moving Ahead In Meck Co WFAE
Crucial Council Vote Tonight On Trash-To-Electricity Plan WFAE
ReVenture plant close to financing deal the Charlotte Business Journal
Here's some more information on one of the potential pollutants dioxin released when plastic is burned from Dr. Linda Birnbaum, a former EPA Toxicology Division director and current director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences:
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.