[GreenYes] Academic endorsement for incinerators in NYC

[David Wood <david@grrn.org>]

 From today's NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/15/opinion/15COHE.html?todaysheadlines
and the first few paragraphs pasted here.

Putting Garbage to Good Use
By STEVEN COHEN

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's recent proposal to
develop garbage-transfer stations to compact refuse and send it away by
barge is a step in the right direction. The stations, to be placed in
waterfront locations throughout the city, would replace a system that
uses thousands of polluting, diesel-fueled trucks daily to haul garbage
through the city's streets to landfill sites in other states.

Now the city should find, indeed create, better destinations for the
11,000 tons of household refuse that New Yorkers produce every day. In
doing so, New York could help itself and several cities and towns along
the Hudson River that need to revive their economies.

Currently, the city contracts with private vendors to ship its waste and
dispose of it in out-of-state landfills. But the private waste-management
business is composed of a small number of large companies and is thus not
very competitive. This has contributed to astronomical garbage disposal
costs. The Sanitation Department's operating costs reached $1 billion
last year.

A better approach would be for the city to build its own sites in some of
the depressed localities that dot the Hudson's shores. Under such a plan,
sponsored together with the state, New York City could build
high-temperature incinerators that generate electricity, known as
waste-to-energy plants, in industrial sections of these towns. In
exchange, the city could offer free or reduced-cost garbage disposal for
participating towns and perhaps low-priced electricity (generated by the
incinerators) to businesses that put offices or factories in these
localities.

If needed, additional incentives, like help with building new public
schools or recreational areas, could be offered under such a
state-sponsored program.

<snip>

David Wood, Program Director
GrassRoots Recycling Network
5610 Dorsett Drive
Madison  WI  53711-3402
608-270-0940
608-347-7043 (cell)
david@grrn.org
www.grrn.org
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