[GreenYes] Pro-Incinerator Conference on NYC waste

["Monica Wilson" <mwilson@essential.org>]

The New York City-based Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods (OWN),
which fights on waste issues in low income communities of color in New York
City, invites all interested to come to NYC to help counter pro-incinerator
propaganda at the following conference on Nov. 18, 2002. OWN will help with
housing for anyone who needs it.

If you are considering coming or have questions, please contact Timothy
Logan with OWN at own@nyceja.org or 212.239.8882.

____________________________________________
INFORMATION ABOUT PRO-INCINERATOR CONFERENCE from the New York Academy of
Sciences, http://www.nyas.org/press/pr_021026.html

Experts to Evaluate the Waste-to-Energy Option for Managing New York City
Waste
Waste-to-Energy Analysis to be Presented at November 18 NYAS Meeting

How to deal with New York City's growing waste disposal problem-including a
scientific and policy analysis of the waste-to-energy (WTE) option-will be
discussed by a panel of experts in public heath, technology, and policy at a
special seminar Monday, November 18.

The seminar, to be held at the New York Academy of Sciences, 2 E. 63rd
Street, New York, will run from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Academy's
Working Group on Science and Urban Policy, panelists will compare the
environmental, public health, and economic impacts of current WTE technology
to land filling.

On the panel are:
-Alan Eschenroeder, School of Public Health, Harvard University
-Walt Stevenson, Office of Air Quality and Standards, Combustion Group, US
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC
-Nickolas Themelis, director, Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University
-Rae Zimmerman, Professor and Director, Institute for Civil Infrastructure
Systems, New York University - Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Steven Cohen, director, Executive MPA Program, School of International and
Public Affairs, will be the moderator.

Panelists will evaluate the impact of WTE, both in itself and in comparison
to out-of-state land filling. The issue derives from the closure in 2001 of
the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island and New York City's growing
dependence on other states for the disposal of over three million tons of
municipal solid wastes annually, with attendant increasing costs.

Alan Eschenroeder will assess both the health risks and the climate change
impacts of land filling compared with combustion of municipal solid waste.
The health risk study considers performance under both existing regulations
and advanced technologies. Models of atmospheric dynamic response for the
basis of the greenhouse effects and climate change analysis.

Walt Stevenson is responsible for development of the Maximum Achievable
Control Technology (MACT) standards that regulate air pollution emission
from WTE plants. He will present compilations of data collected by EPA on
WTE emissions (e.g., mercury and dioxins) in the pre-MACT period of
1989-1993 and in the past-MACT period of 2000-01. The Combustion Group of
the EPA Office of Air Quality and Standards regulates air emissions from all
stationary combustion sources including industrial and utility boilers, gas
turbines and various incinerators, including medical incinerators and
municipal WTE plants.

Nickolas Themelis will compare the environmental and economic impacts of
combusting or land filling the non-recyclable fraction of municipal solid
waste. He will also describe a modern WTE plan in Brescia, Italy, that
combusts the non-recyclable municipal solid wastes and the sewage sludge of
half a million people and generates electricity and hot water for district
heating.

Rae Zimmerman will discuss how public perceptions of environmental, health,
and safety conditions associated with the of siting waste transport and
combustion facilities shape the public policy debate about WTE technologies.
Analogies will be drawn from attempts to introduce similar technologies. The
role of scientific knowledge and regulatory strategies in affecting the
level of confidence in new technologies will be evaluated.

**** MEDIA ARE WELCOME BUT MUST RESERVE AT 212/838-0230, X257 ***

Members of the public wishing to make a reservation for the seminar should
call 212/838-0230, x322 or email nymeetings@nyas.org.

The seminar is being co-sponsored by the Earth Institute of Columbia
University, the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science, the NYU Draper
Interdisciplinary Master's Program, and the Cornwall Center for Metropolitan
Studies at Rutgers University-Newark.
________________________________________




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