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What is the method used to incinerate trash in this proposed project?
100 million dollars is an insane amount of money to spend on outdated technology. A plasma incinerator would not even cost that much to create and operate and would create more than 3 MW. Another member sugested funding "solar arrays" instead. You get more "bang" for the buck buying and handing out solar panels to midle & low income homes in Hawaii than "incinerating" trash..
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Rob, you have to admit that NELHA is a poor
location for this project.NELHA is on the leading edge of aquaculture in this state.
Building a waste incinerator in such a environmentally sensitive area is unconscionable.
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I do agree that the location seems very poor. This news on this location/proposal is new to me. I'm not sure who produced it.
Landfills in Hilo, with 100+ inches of rain a year, seem primitive and environmentally more dangerous than scrubbed incinerating. Landfills in general are nothing more than a cheap short term solution to long term problems. But desert conditions seem better than rainforests for land fills. No one in Kona seems to want east side trash trucked to the west side however sensible it may be.
WTE appeals to me only if the burning and scrubbing can be achieved efficiently and thoroughly. Some insist that it is simply not possible. The benefits of not burying trash and instead converting it into energy are appealing. As an example a fuel efficient, zero pollution car that costs $250,000 each isn't going to make sense.
I do have doubts about the motivations that lead to decisions in this state. Wastiing money seems to be the norm. 40% + of our capital improvement budget is incinerated cleanly and efficiently. If we could burn trash as efficiently as we burn money WTE would be a good deal.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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Nate, the key is the fuel. If it was just generating electricity, you are right; there sure are hundreds of better options for much more reasonable cost. This is really about what to do with the island’s garbage.
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I agree that NELHA would be a poor location for a WTE plant. Hilo would be a more logical place to attempt one. Is the "anonomous tipster" the only source for this claim? Has it been reported by a credible journalist?
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Last things first.
About the source/validity of the NELHA proposal. The first I had heard of this was when Aaron forwarded Mayor Kim's letter to me. From the kind of words Harry had to say, it seems that he knows about this specific proposal; so, I reckon it is for real.
Now, first principles.
Re-duction and recycling knowledge -- if you will, the 'art and science' there of -- has dramatically increased in the past 10 years; and continues to do so. It is simply not true that a long-term need for landfills or incinerators is inevitable.
In January I will be visiting a community in New Zealand where only 10% of materials go to the landfill; the other 90% is re-used or recycled. Most importantly, successful measures have been taken to reduce trash. (There are no incinerators in New Zealand.
Now, as for mining the landfill to burn.
Nowhere in my research, is there any mention of incinerators being used to burn materials mined from landfills. This is just not what is done nor what is proposed in Hilo -- nothing close to it.
A "clean" incinerator? Only the people who sell them, or someone who has never carefully researched them (e.g., Harry Kim), would tell you that there is such a thing. (I'll post "clean incinerator" to the 'oxymoron' thread!).
Some people do not see black smoke from the stack, so they reckon all is well. Not so. Dioxin, mercury, cadmium, lead -- all know pollutants from incinerators -- are not in 'black smoke.' In fact, a real hazard is bio-accumulation -- little by little, over the years, more and more gets into the soil, water, fish, papayas, meat, and then anything or anyone that eats or drinks the local food and water.
Will EPA regulations protect us? Aside from whether or not you want to trust the Federal Government, history shows these regulations do not protect. On several occasions incinerators have violated emissions and other regulations. On some occasions these facilities were shut down (permanently or temporarily). More typically, the operator is fined and the burning goes on. Still, neither shutdowns nor fines succeeded in keeping the toxins out of the environmentof the communities; and neither shutdowns nor fines made the toxins disappear from the environment.
The new 'state-of-the-art' technology? It works well in a lab, and hypothetically, it works on the ground. To be safe this equiment must work properly 24/7, for 2 or 3 decades. Does any machine do that? Not that I have seen. The most common problem is that the (non-resident) incinerator operators cut corners to save $ and then the equipment malfunctions; and the local government ends up spending $ to repair it.
Critical: malfunctions and operator negligence in these facilities have very well known consequences -- exposure of the population to known carcinogens and lethal substances.
Again, the info I have is too voluminous to post here (any ideas Rob? or anyone else?).
The most important question: Is WTE the best we can do? My position -- based on extensive research -- is an unqualified NO!
Some weeks ago, I offered to debate the Mayor, anyone from his administration, or any resident of this island using formal debate format and in a public forum, with me taking the opposing side of this proposition (straqight from the Mayor's own mouth": "The proposed WTE facility is the best option for Council to fund."
That offer still stands. Any takers?
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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James -
A question I have often asked but can find no reasonable answer -
what is done with our glass & aluminum recycling? Where does it go? Is it put on a barge to be transported to the West Coast? Other than the mounds behind Walmart that is there somewhere it goes here on the island to be recycled effectively? Does it make any sense to ship to West Coast there by burning more fossil fuels?
-Cat
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Assume the best and ask questions.
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