Charleston County Council recently adopted a proactive approach toward making the county more environmentally responsible, but amidst a desire to reduce our waste and increase recycling, they’re still faced with the task of how to handle the incinerator, which burns 80 percent of our household garbage.
On Tuesday, June 24, they’ll host a neighborhood meeting to share information about the Waste to Energy Facility for Municipal Sold Waste (read, “incinerator”). After the 6:30 presentation at the Gethsemane Community Center in North Charleston (2449 Beacon St.), they’ll hear public comments.
The Lowcountry chapter of the Sierra Club took a stance cautioning against renewing the incinerator’s contract this week, publishing a fact sheet of health concerns related to burning garbage on their website.
Here’s a few of the things likely to be burning at the incinerator as you read this: Oven and drain cleaners; Bleach (laundry); Pool chemicals; Motor oil; Fuel additives; Carburetor and fuel injection cleaners; Air conditioning refrigerants; Automotive batteries; Transmission and brake fluid; Antifreeze; Herbicides; Insecticides; Fungicides/wood preservatives; Cockroach sprays and baits; Flea repellents and shampoos; Bug sprays; Houseplant insecticides; Moth repellents; Mouse and rat poisons and baits; Adhesives and glues; Furniture strippers; Paint thinners and turpentine; Photographic chemicals; Batteries; Mercury thermostats or thermometers.
Something’s in the air, but is it change?
From the county …
County Council Holds Neighborhood Meeting on Incinerator
Meeting to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, at Gethsemane Community Center on Beacon Street in North Charleston.
Charleston County Council will hold a neighborhood meeting in North Charleston on Tuesday, June 24, to share and gather information about the County’s Waste to Energy Facility for Municipal Solid Waste. The facility is commonly known as the “incinerator.”
The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Gethsemane Community Center (2449 Beacon Street; Charleston, SC 29405).
For anyone wishing to make comments during the meeting, a sign-up sheet will be available beginning at 6 p.m. at the meeting location.
Staff from Charleston County’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department will give a brief presentation about the Waste to Energy Facility.
Following the presentation, the public will have an opportunity to provide feedback to Charleston County Council and staff members.
Those who cannot attend the meeting but would like to submit comments on this topic can send them to the Clerk of Council, Beverly Craven, by e-mail to: bcraven@charlestoncounty.org, or by mail to: Beverly Craven, Clerk of Council; 4045 Bridge View Drive; N. Charleston, SC 29405.
2 Comments
The City of Charleston claims to be concerned about the environment and wanting to go more green, while Charleston County Council is acting as though adding pollutants to the air is not a problem. Burning the batteries that folks don’t recycle adds mercury to the air. And what about all those plastic bottles that are being burned? There is a reason why there are so many allergies and asthma in this area. Charleston has the reputation for a high level of upper respiratory disease. We need to stop the burning….Speak up Charleston.
It’s time.
Of those things “burning at the incinerator”, it is probably much better to burn them (except for the mercury-containing items) than to landfill them.
WTE will destroy most of the organic toxins in the waste; landfilling will simply put it in your groundwater 40 years down the road. I’d be more concerned about the emissions from the cars and garbage trucks driving in front of the incinerator than the emissions from the plant itself. If we don’t want to burn or landfill, we have to not make it in the first place. People need to realize that.
WTE will remain a way of life until we are willing to make fundamental changes in the way that our economy operates, which is currently a system of voracious consumerism. Business is good when people are tossing, buying, tossing, buying!