Curtis Bay incinerator
progression disappointing
Gwen DuBois
It is
unfortunate that Albany-based Energy Answers informs the media it still plans to build its polluting incinerator in
our Curtis Bay section of the city. This is despite inspiring efforts by students from Benjamin Franklin High School to
organize their neighbors to oppose its construction and convince 22 municipal
customers, including Baltimore City, to terminate energy contracts with the
plant.
Incineration may violate the rights of people downwind
to have clean and healthy air. Not one parent would choose to have an
incinerator in their backyard emitting mercury, lead, fine particulate matter,
heavy metals, dioxin and nitrogen oxides. Nor would they choose to have
hundreds of diesel trucks come into their neighborhood daily carrying the
waste. Diesel soot is a deadly pollutant full of fine particulate matter and
known and suspected carcinogens.
A company spokeswoman disputing opponents, told
a reporter "they talk about the deadly emissions and toxins that will come
from the stack. Steam comes out of the stack. It's clean emissions and it is
highly regulated." Yet construction was halted on the plant in June of
2014 because the company failed to retain offsets for tons of pollutant emissions.
This proposed incinerator is permitted to
burn 1.46 million tons of waste yearly some of which will come from out of
state. It will be permitted to emit 156 tons of fine particulate matter —
linked to lung cancer,
premature death and heart attacks — yearly; 446 tons of sulfur dioxide
(contributes to formation of fine particulate matter and causes acid rain); and
601 tons of nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen dioxide can cause reduction in lung
function in children that will put them at risk for respiratory diseases for
the rest of their lives, according to a report this year in the New England Journal of
Medicine. Nitrogen oxides are a component of fine particulate
matter and along with volatile organic compounds, 96 tons of which will be
permitted yearly, nitrogen dioxide plays a major role in the production of
ozone. High ozone levels increase the likelihood of new onset asthma in active
young children, and are a cause of premature death from respiratory disease. It
is one of the six major "criteria" pollutants for which levels are
set by the EPA, and the one that Baltimore has had difficulty keeping within
national standards. Energy Answers is also permitted to emit an incredible
1,000 pounds of lead and 240 pounds of mercury yearly — heavy metals that
reduce IQ in neonates and children. The licensing agreement setting these
allowances will be fully three years old by February 2016.
Children in Curtis Bay are already exposed to too much dirty industry (21226
is home to the highest level of stationary toxic emissions in the state). They
will grow up breathing in even more pollutants if this incinerator is allowed
to be built, toxics known to cause asthma, heart disease, neurological disease,
lung cancer, disruption of endocrine function and loss of IQ.
There is another important issue here. For the
calendar year 2011, Baltimore City had a lowly 27 percent recycling rate, and
for 2013, it had dropped to 19.4 percent. Incinerators usually require
suppliers to guarantee a certain amount of waste, which is a disincentive to
recycling, reusing, composting and mindful purchasing of material. This city
should aspire to be a leader, like San Francisco or Seattle, in recycling and
moving to zero waste. The jobs this would generate would more than make up for
jobs lost. A study by Friends of the Earth estimated that recycling per ton would
generate 10 times more jobs than landfilling or incineration. What we would
teach our children about sustainability and a clean environment would make them
proud of their city, just as the high school students at Ben Franklin have
learned pride and leadership in their efforts to make Curtis Bay a healthier
place to grow up.
Let’s stand with the children of Curtis Bay and
say to the Maryland Department of the Environment, "just say no" to
another incinerator and another source of dirty air pollution in 21226
Dr. Gwen DuBois is an internist at
Sinai, a member of the board of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility
and a member of the public health committee of Med/Chi. Her email is gdubois@jhsph.edu.
Copyright © 2015, The Baltimore
Sun
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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