Residents urge authority to reject incineration; staff says Okeechobee landfill agreement is disaster backup

Several residents and environmental group representatives used the public‑comment period to urge the Solid Waste Authority to reject incineration and to push for stronger recycling, composting and diversion policies.

Jessica Namath, founder and director of Palm Beach Clean Air and a county resident of nearly four decades, told commissioners she opposes incineration on environmental and health grounds and urged investment in recycling and composting instead. “Incineration may seem like a quick fix for our waste management issues, but it's far from the sustainable solution we need,” she said, citing dioxins, furans and heavy metals and urging a circular‑economy approach.

Several other speakers echoed that view. Alexandria Larson and representatives of the Sierra Club’s Loxahatchee Group (Gail Ladd and Linda Smith) argued incineration produces toxic ash and emissions, is expensive compared with landfill or diversion strategies, and risks environmental justice harms if sited near marginalized communities. Their remarks referenced recent controversies over planned incinerators in Miami‑Dade County.

Staff responded to questions about a separate item: an existing backup agreement with Waste Management for the Okeechobee Landfill. Mr. Pelowitz clarified that the agreement is a contingency arrangement to accept structural debris after a major hurricane or natural disaster at a specified price and is not a proposal for routine disposal of county waste. “It's a backup agreement that we have with WM … in the event of a major hurricane or natural disaster, it provides capacity to ship structural debris … to their landfill at a specified price,” he said.

Ending: Commissioners heard public concerns and received staff clarification on the Okeechobee agreement; no policy change on incineration was adopted at the meeting.