WIN-Waste Trash Incinerator “Celebrates” 40th Birthday

Peekskill, NY– On January 1, 1984 the first load of garbage arrived at the Charles Point ‘waste-to-energy’ plant in Peekskill. Over the past 40 years it’s gone by several different names but the result was always the same: air pollution, noise complaints, truck traffic, and health impacts. Now residents are hoping their recent work with Westchester County will mean this birthday is one of the incinerator’s last.

Peekskill-based Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions (WASS) was founded in 2021 to unite organizations and individuals across Westchester County to push for a revamping of the county waste system’s reliance on harmful trash incineration. New York State’s Disadvantaged Community Criteria considers the area around the incinerator worse-off than 98% of census tracts in New York State thanks in part to the pollution burden of the incinerator. Motivated by the high rates of asthma, cardiovascular emergency room visits, and other pollution-related illness, Peekskill-area residents are pushing Westchester County to find a better way of managing the 2500 tons of material it sends to the incinerator everyday.

This year WASS and allies are celebrating a big win- $90,000 earmarked in the 2024 county budget for a waste reduction study. This investment can create a roadmap to Zero Waste and eliminate reliance on incineration. The fiscal health of the county requires this switch. If WIN-Waste fulfills its current contract with the county it will be tied as the oldest incinerator in the nation. No infrastructure lasts forever. We can continue to pour money into upgrading this ancient incinerator at tax-payer expense, or we can invest in lasting solutions that save money and create jobs in the long run. Montgomery County, Maryland made the same calculation and opted to close their trash incinerator and switch to Zero Waste. If they can do it, so can Westchester.

NYSDEC waste numbers show a remarkable 90% of what is thrown away as garbage can actually be diverted from the waste stream- food scraps, paper/cardboard, glass, and metal. Considering the value of what is being burned, as compost, raw materials, etc. we are throwing away valuable resources. Westchester County already has diversion programs for these categories of waste that can be expanded, creating more jobs and cleaner air. WASS is working with organizations in Peekskill and other communities to build out grassroots composting and food scraps recycling efforts to show it can be done.

WIN-Waste likes to promote the production of ‘renewable’ energy from burning garbage. An analysis by The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center outlines the fact that incinerators are more polluting than coal plants when it comes to generating electricity. And that’s just from the pollutants we know about, regulations only require testing for a few.

The timing of Westchester’s move to Zero Waste is critical. In addition to the incinerator being 40 years old, its Title V Air Permit, required by the Clean Air Act, expired in December 2021. The permit, issued to the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency, has repeatedly been extended by Department of Conservation staff. Given the recent changes brought about by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) permit renewals are under new scrutiny, but communities like Peekskill continue to languish. The NYS Comptroller's Office recent audit found DEC failed numerous communities by failing to process permit renewals in a timely fashion. Indeed, WIN-Waste’s slow permit renewal looks good compared to the BASF chemical plant in Peekskill, with an Air Permit that expired in 2017!

For the past 40 years Westchester County has traded the health and well-being of Peekskill area residents for a solution to the waste problem. That may have seemed like a good trade-off in 1984, but we know better now. WASS looks forward to working closely with decision-makers across Westchester County to end incineration for the physical health of residents, the climate health of the planet, and the fiscal health of the county.

To join the Westchester Zero Waste Task Force register at https://wasspeekskill.org/meeting

“Know better, do better. That’s what we say. In 1984 decision-makers thought burning garbage made it magically disappear. Now we know there is no ‘away,’ the air pollution and the toxic ash generated by incineration has harmed two generations of Peekskill residents. The kids of Peekskill deserve to breathe clean air. The solutions exist to shutter this incinerator, we just need the political will to make it happen. We are excited that Westchester County is taking the step of waste reduction study.” Courtney M. Williams, founder of WASS and resident of Peekskill.

“For forty years Wheelabrator has polluted the air of a community of color. The garbage of the rich rains down among the poor leaving high rates of childhood asthma for Peekskill. Let's hope that an upcoming study of the waste stream of Westchester County can lead to a more equitable means of disposing waste. Forty years from now I hope that a fellow member of the Peekskill NAACP no longer has to comment on Wheelabrator's birthday.” Jay Buckiewicz, Chairperson of the Environmental Justice Committee of the Peekskill NAACP.

"40 years is a long enough period for dependence on incineration practices for waste management. With the global deterioration of our clean air and clean water access, the time is now for Westchester County to step up as an affluent county and make a plan to move into a more green future." Paul Presendieu, Chair of the City of New Rochelle's Ecology and Natural Resources Advisory Committee.

"Composting provides benefits to the community, the soil, and the food we eat. It also limits the use of fossil fuels by incinerators. Keeping food out of the incinerator should be a top priority for any waste disposal program. The county should mandate food scraps recycling and expand to include curbside pick up." Travis Carpenter, Peekskill resident.

"I really support the far reaching efforts of WASS to find a solution to incinerating garbage in our city. Reducing trash volume by removing food scraps is something we can do now." Kay Barthelmes, Peekskill resident.

“Burning garbage is an outdated, short sighted, expensive and painfully harmful way of managing Westchester's discards. Our future lies in recognizing that 90% of what is burned at the Wheelabrator already can be diverted via reuse and recycling. Much of what is burned has value: furniture, electronics, clothing, books, food. The list goes on and on. Developing systems to readily and easily capture these discards before they become waste is the future. Wheelabrator's 40th birthday- should be its last!-- Caitlin Chang Zero Waste Advocate, WASS Volunteer, Hastings-on-Hudson resident.

"It is an ongoing travesty that polluting facilities are heavily concentrated in low income and communities of color. Peekskill is officially designated a Disadvantaged Community by New York State, and Wheelabrator is only the largest of several polluters in Peekskill. Wheelabrator is past its operational lifespan and justice demands we put our residents' health and safety first. Plan for obsolescence now and shut it down!" --Leila Goldmark, environmental attorney and WASS Volunteer, Croton-on-Hudson resident.

"Incineration negatively impacts the health of Peekskill residents. Through composting and advocacy calling for a high impact policy to close the incinerator provides a long term solution for Westchester." Ella A., Westchester Resident.

On January 29, 1984, the Wheelabrator trash incinerator in Peekskill accepted its first load of trash.

Westchester County’s largest industrial air polluter has produced:
40,000 tons NOx
over 1 ton of lead
840 pounds of mercury
31.8 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions
8 million tons of toxic ash

40 years is long enough! End trash incineration NOW!

Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions wasspeekskill.org
Data are estimates based on 2017 emissions reports filed with NYS DEC.
Link to DEC reports: https://data.ny.gov/Energy-Environment/Title-V-Emissions-Inventory-Beginning-2010/4ry5-tfin/data_preview