The Republican-led legislature passed the plan by a 17-7 vote Monday. The 10-year outlook was presented by Republican County Executive William O’Neil and developed by the county Division of Solid Waste Management, as required by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. It serves as an update to the county’s last waste management plan in 2012.
The problem, according to the eight county residents who addressed the legislature before the vote, is that the document is more of a plan to plan rather than, well, a plan.
“No goals stated absolutely means no goals met," says Sandy Stratton Gonzalez, a Fishkill resident with the advocacy group Mothers Out Front. "It makes sense to have a plan to reduce waste, to have our elected officials acts as leaders, to be proactive here, and to plan actively for a cleaner future.”
There are a lot of different ways one can reduce and dispose of waste. Dutchess County phased out the use of landfills in the 1990s, and has since relied on its waste-to-energy incinerator in Poughkeepsie for the vast majority of its waste disposal. The new plan stands firm in its support for incineration, although it acknowledges that waste-to-energy facilities are “an expensive endeavor” for operators, and that the current facility cannot handle all of the county’s waste, which has increased in recent years.
Many speakers, however, expressed concerns about the emissions resulting from incinerators. Studies have found that incinerating waste can contribute to air pollution by releasing chemicals and particulate matter into the air.
“Is there anyone in the room here who wants to breathe toxic air?" asks Rhinebeck resident Dave Heller, to a silent audience. "That’s what I thought.”
Democratic Legislator Brennan Kearney says the incinerator’s output is not only an environmental concern, but a matter of economic and racial justice.
“Children from lower-income communities suffer from significantly higher levels of asthma and respiratory illnesses," notes Kearney. "They deserve our advocacy, our support, and our vote against the solid waste plan.”
“If we were to shut down this plant tomorrow, this would be height of environmental hypocrisy and injustice," rebuts Republican Legislator Alan Surman. "Because essentially what we’d be doing, since we don’t landfill in this county — even if we, as a companion bill, say, ‘We’re going to open up landfills in Dutchess County’ — what you’re talking about is an extensive amount of diesel trucking to schlelp this stuff across the state. Or in some cases, like New York City, putting it on railcars and shipping it to poorer states where, they’ve got nothing else going on, they would accept the garbage. But what are you doing to the people down there? That’s injustice.”
The plan asserts that the current Wheelabrator facility adheres to strict air-quality regulations set by the state and the federal government. Still, to meet the demand, it suggests that the county consider a new-and-improved incinerator facility down the line, which would likely take years of preparation and millions of dollars in investment. It also suggests the county explore expanded uses for incinerator by-products like ash, which is currently being trucked roughly 240 miles away to serve as an alternative cover for landfills.
Democratic Minority Leader Yvette Valdes Smith says she’d like to see the county reduce its waste via composting. Currently, McEnroe Organic Farm in the town of North East is the only facility in the county that accepts composting materials from both businesses and residents. Valdes Smith says three municipalities — Beacon, Rhinebeck, and Red Hook — launched composting pilot programs last year, but otherwise if residents want to compost their waste, they’re largely left to do so in their own backyards.
“I truly know this, we can do this county-wide," says Valdes Smith. "We can reduce our solid waste and go and be as progressive as surrounding counties. We are better than this.”
Valdes Smith suggests that the county’s peak recycling rate, 44 percent in 2019, is a sign that residents are on board. The plan itself says “the County would welcome an entity building an additional composting facility,” and would contribute to a feasibility study — but no specific timeline is included.
Republican Majority Leader Will Truitt says that doesn’t count anything out. Calling the plan a “living, breathing document,” he says legislators and residents should view it as a guide, rather than a checklist.
“At any point, when we recognize that there is better technology, or some sort of pilot program that we want to take a look at, we can do that at any time in this county legislative body," says Truitt.
After an unsuccessful attempt by Democratic Legislator Barrington Atkins to table the issue, the plan easily passed. All seven Democratic legislators voted against the measure, while Democrat Randy Johnson of Poughkeepsie was absent.
You can watch the full meeting here.
