Local environmental officials have cited Montgomery County’s waste incinerator for unlawful toxic emissions for the second time in four months.

This time, one of the facility’s three boilers in late December emitted more than three times the allowable level of dioxins and furans — highly toxic pollutants that can cause cancer and other serious health issues.

Testing in January and February confirmed the result, which the county reported on Feb. 20.

Reworld, the company operating the incinerator, reported that a tear in air pollution control equipment may have contributed to the elevated emissions, Linda Ribakusky, a company spokesperson, wrote on Monday.

Environmental advocates are pointing to this latest violation as further proof that the Dickerson incinerator needs to close soon.

County Executive Marc Elrich, years ago, promised voters to shutter the facility and has less than a year left in his term to find a temporary alternative to waste incineration. The future of local waste management will otherwise fall to his successor.

Elrich will need the County Council’s approval for a closure plan. But Natali Fani-González, the council president, said she is still waiting for a plan from the county executive, and time is running out to secure funding.

“The fact that there is no plan doesn’t play in favor of a budget request,” Fani-González said in a statement Monday.

Attempts to reach Elrich on Monday were unsuccessful.

His administration has taken steps toward an alternative to the incinerator.

County staff began reviewing proposals from private companies in December to haul waste to regional landfills, but the county has yet to announce a winning bidder.

Elrich has until mid-March to submit a budget proposal for the contract to the 11-member council.

Elrich and the council have yet to agree on a solution, and council members have accused him of dragging his feet.

Environmental advocates blame both.

Further delay by the council or the county’s environment department “is unacceptable,” Lauren Greenberger, vice president of the Dickerson-based Sugarloaf Citizens Association, said in a statement.

“This recent leak is yet more evidence that this aging facility is a continuing dire public health threat,” she said.

Fani-González said Monday that she sent a letter to Elrich in January calling for more details about his strategy to close the incinerator and transition, at least temporarily, to a system in which trucks haul the county’s solid waste to a landfill in another state.

She also asked him to convene public meetings so county residents can weigh in.

“The future of trash disposal is a once-in-a-generation decision, and a robust, countywide, deliberative, and equitable community outreach process must inform this enormous decision,” she wrote.

Three days after issuing a press release on the emissions violation, the county on Monday announced a series of sessions, beginning March 2 in Germantown, to gather public comments on the incinerator problem.

“My goal for years, shared by many people, has been to shut down the incinerator that burns our trash,” Elrich said in the announcement. “The problem is that hauling away trash is expensive.”

Reworld’s contract with the county expires in 2031. Elrich advised against approving a new one with the company.

“If we commit to the incinerator as a long-term solution, we will face enormous costs to upgrade or replace the incinerator with a modern facility,” he said.