Council president rejects Marc Elrich’s incinerator plan as ‘not logical’

Marc Elrich campaigned almost a decade ago with a promise to close Montgomery County’s waste incinerator.

But as the term-limited county executive serves his final months in office, it appears the incinerator’s fate will fall to his successor.

County Council President Natali Fani-González said during a press conference Monday that Elrich “has neglected to offer a real plan” for closing the Dickerson facility and overhauling waste management in the county.

“I’m not going to rush a decision just to meet somebody’s personal schedule,” she said in a phone interview after the press conference.

Elrich wrote in a letter to Fani-González in early March that delays in closing the incinerator will force the county to incur costs, such as upgrading the 30-year-old facility, that could be avoided.

Mary Anderson, a spokesperson for Elrich, said in a statement Monday that the county has already laid out the next steps for closing the facility, including in one-on-one meetings with council members and in community meetings in early March.

“The work has been done — trash disposal has two options: burn it or landfill it,” she said.

Anderson added that waiting to end incineration will force the county to spend another $17 million for repairs at the facility and reissue a request for proposals to transport waste to a landfill.

Elrich and Fani-González both say they want to close the incinerator because of the high costs of operating the facility, as well as the health and environmental concerns that burning trash poses to nearby communities.

Elrich’s recommended budget for the next fiscal year includes nearly $44 million to pay for transporting waste to a regional landfill instead of the incinerator.

The county executive settled on long-hauling waste as the most viable short-term alternative to incineration before he drafted his most recent budget. His administration began soliciting bids in September for transporting waste.

But as of Monday, the county had yet to select a company for the $44 million job.

Elrich’s budget also includes $3.6 million to terminate the county’s contract with Reworld, the private operator of the incinerator, years early. The contract is currently slated to expire in 2031.

Fani-González, though, said the plan leaves too many questions unanswered — including exactly when the incinerator would close and where waste now headed to it would be hauled.

“And then he’s expecting us to vote on this, during this budget, next month,” she said. “It’s not logical. It’s not responsible. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Pressure to close

Local environmental groups have in recent weeks ramped up calls for Montgomery County officials to close the incinerator as soon as possible.

After the incinerator received its second citation for unlawful toxic emissions in recent months, one group, the Dickerson-based Sugarloaf Citizens Association, urged an emergency closure of the facility.

The County Council has the final say on next year’s budget, including spending on waste management. In a recent memo to her council colleagues, Fani-González said she will introduce her own waste management plan, under which the county will continue to operate the incinerator.

She plans for the council to revisit the issue in the fall.

“I want to close the incinerator, personally, but I want to do it right,” she said.