Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment Waste Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident raises emissions and health concerns as county considers $240,000 repair work at waste‑to‑energy plant
Summary
At the Sept. 2 meeting public commenter Marsha Ellis urged commissioners to reconsider taxpayer funding for repairs to the county's waste‑to‑energy facility and cited state emissions data showing rising mercury and dioxin at the Buckingham facility.
A Lee County resident told commissioners Sept. 2 that taxpayer funds earmarked for repairs and life‑extension work at the county's waste‑to‑energy plant deserve closer scrutiny after she presented state emissions data she said show increases in mercury and dioxin.
Marsha Ellis, an environmental advocate, spoke during the public‑comment period on an agenda item that authorizes a roughly $240,000 purchase order for hurricane‑related repairs at the county's waste‑to‑energy facility. "This energy facility is in excess of 30 years old," Ellis said, and industry practice often results in deferred maintenance. She told commissioners the county has allocated about $85,000,000 in recent months for a life‑extension project at the facility and that the plant's emissions record shows increasing mercury and, at times, dioxin exceedances.
"When you take a look at this graph, the pink represents total mercury from Florida's trash incinerators. The yellow line shows an increasing trend of mercury emissions from our waste‑to‑energy plant over the past few years," Ellis said, identifying the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as the source of the chart she provided to the board. "I think it's worth evaluating the use of our taxpayer dollars to pollute and cause negative health outcomes on ourselves going forward," she added.
County staff did not debate the scientific claims on the record at the Sept. 2 meeting; the agenda item for the hurricane repairs proceeded through the consent process and the motion on consent items carried unanimously. The agenda summary for the repair purchase order notes that under the vendor contract the operator (identified in materials as ReWorld, formerly Covanta) is responsible for repair, design and construction of capital projects resulting from uncontrollable circumstances and may bill the county only at actual cost excluding profit markup.
Ellis asked the board to acknowledge the facility's emissions history and the impacts on the Buckingham community and said the county should weigh pollution and health costs alongside repair decisions.
The board took no separate substantive vote on emissions reporting at the Sept. 2 meeting. Commissioners and staff recorded the public comment into the meeting record and proceeded with the consent agenda.
