County officials are considering health impact reviews and exploring alternatives, as Executive Marc Elrich pushes for closing the facility within a year.
Last month, the operators of Montgomery County’s incinerator in Dickerson, Maryland, reported to the state Department of the Environment that there were elevated levels of pollutants being released from one of the boilers at the facility.
That prompted MDE to issue a notice of violation to the facility.
Aimena Lipscomb, with MDE, told WTOP in an email, “The operator shut the unit down upon receiving the testing results and made repairs. Preliminary testing showed it operating within allowable limits. Additional testing is required as the unit returns to service.”
Linda Ribakusky, director of communications with Reworld, the entity that operates the incinerator, explained to WTOP, “Preliminary testing has demonstrated emissions are below limits and we are working toward confirmation through rigorous compliance testing. We continue to be in close communication with the Montgomery Department of Environmental Protection.”
When the problem was first reported, the levels of dioxins and furanes — highly toxic pollutants — that were being emitted were 83% above allowable limits.
Jennifer Macedonia, the director of the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, said in a briefing with Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on Wednesday that the county is “looking to getting a third-party expert who can look into any potential health impacts” as a result of the elevated emissions.
On Thursday, Elrich told WTOP that he’d like to see the incinerator closed within a year.
“We have a very backward waste management system,” he said. “We burn stuff, that if it was recovered from the trash, actually has economic value.”
But, Elrich added, “there’s no cheap way to deal with how we go forward” with waste management, whether it’s to continue to use an incinerator or increase waste recovery.
“Either way, there are going to be high costs with either one. There is no free ride now,” he said.
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