Miami-Dade County Commission agrees to reconsider other sites for new waste plant
MIAMI - A couple of dozen Doral residents showed up at the Miami-Dade County Commission meeting on Tuesday to ask for a change in plans for a new Covanta waste treatment facility.
Those residents gained a small victory after the Miami-Dade County Commission agreed to rescind the decision commissioners made last July, where the majority voted to leave it the same site.
In light of the February fire, the commission will reconsider other sites.
In 90 days, a new report done by the county will help decide to open the discussion for other places.
The new facility, which was approved by the commission, was to be built right next to the Covanta waste-to-energy facility that burned down in February.
The Doral Community Coalition fought the county last year because they say the waste treatment plant in their area smells terrible and plans for a new updated one right across from the one already there were not a good idea.
When the county voted for the new plant to be built anyway, the DCC filed a lawsuit. Seven months later a fire broke out at the existing plant. Smoke billowed and lingered over the city for days.
"I think the fire was one of those moments where it was almost like an 'I told you so' moment with the county. We kept insisting that it does not make sense for a facility of this nature that is used as readily as it is used to be so close to families and children and schools and homes," said Ivette Gonzalez Petkovich, a member of the DCC and an attorney representing them in the lawsuit.
Now more than ever the DCC wants to put a stop to construction on the new plant.
"It's not just the foul odor and the smell, we have to walk our dogs and play in the parks and go to our kids' soccer games, it's also this constant sort of ash that fills the air and lands on our vehicles on our homes. I mean we see it," said Petkovich.
"Well, you know when they burn it, they store the ash in a landfill next to it and on windy days the ash ends up in our houses, in our backyards, and it ends up in our breathing systems. That has to have potential side effects, now they wanna build more and have more ash," said Josef Correia.
"They have plants like this in West Palm Beach but the residential area is like four miles out, we have them literally next door across the street," he added.
Commissioner JC Bermudez, who represents District 12 which includes Doral, said the plans were put into place for the new plant before he got in office and he wants to re-open the discussion. The commissioner also lives near the plant.
"I, obviously, am impacted by this as much as anyone else personally so I've always felt there has to be consideration of other potential sites," said Bermudez.
We reached out to the mayor of Miami-Dade County Daniella Levine Cava who sent us a statement.
"Our focus since the fire first broke out has been the health and safety of our first responders and the surrounding community; now that the fire is out, we can begin to assess the damage and start the process of determining the future of the plant. We have clearly heard the community's concerns, and they will be taken into consideration as we strategize long-term disposal options. My recommendation since last year has been to explore all the alternatives and to consult the community on this topic, which is what I recommended to the Board of County Commissioners last fall. We also held a virtual community meeting in October to introduce plans to implement a Zero Waste strategy for Miami-Dade and we remain focused on waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting as critical opportunities to more effectively manage our waste."
Meantime, a petition online to stop the construction of the new plant had at last check Tuesday more than 61,000 signatures.