Fwd: Some not so great news.
Jeffrey Warren
From: Sylvia Broude, Toxics Action Center <act...@toxicsaction.org>
Date: Tue, May 21, 2013 at 11:57 AM
Subject: Some not so great news.
To: je...@publiclaboratory.org
|
Dear Jeffrey, It's not often that I reach out with news of a loss instead of a victory: the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is lifting the decades-old ban on building new incinerators. After two decades of working with communities living next to leaking landfills or enduring the stench of burning trash from a nearby incinerator, we knew that we needed change. For the past five years, we have worked with you to convince Massachusetts state officials to move away from 'burn and bury' and to adopt the best Solid Waste Master Plan possible. One that would focus on a goal of Zero Waste: reduce, reuse, recycle and compost. We helped bring new groups to the table, from statewide organizations like MASSPIRG to community groups bearing the brunt of our current waste disposal model like Southbridge's Residents for Alternative Trash Solutions. We made sure that citizens had a voice in the decision-making process. You sent emails, came to hearings on the plan, and made sure that folks at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) got the message. Well last week, the DEP quietly released the final Master Plan on their website. There are a lot of great things in it. Things we've been calling for, like required composting for businesses, increased enforcement of current waste bans to ensure recyclables don't go into landfils, and training for towns to adopt a Zero Waste goal. Unfortunately, the plan also included a partial lifting of the 23-year incinerator moratorium. We have had a ban on building new trash incinerators for good reason: burning trash, even with the newest technology, doesn't make our waste disappear. It releases tons of toxic chemicals into the air. It leaves behind toxic wastes that need to be landfilled. And it undermines recycling programs.1 Despite our coalition collecting 14,000 public comments to ask the state to uphold ths incinerator ban (and our opposition sending in only 11), the trash companies' lobbying efforts won the day and the Governor and DEP acted against public interest and lifted the moratorium.2 So while we're excited about many of the steps the state will now be taking to move towards Zero Waste, we'll continue to stay vigilant. Our work will be more important than ever as we work with communities across the state to prevent new trash incinerators. Call us at 617-292-4821 or email at in...@toxicsaction.org if you want help organize to prevent new incinerators in your town. Thanks for all you do, Sylvia Broude 2 http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/protest_against_incinerators_h.html You can support our work today by making a secure online contribution. This message was sent to je...@publiclaboratory.org. If you want us to stop sending you email then follow this link -- Unsubscribe -- to a web page where you can remove yourself. |
pablo rey
--
-- Post to this group at plots-...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe, email plots-boston...@googlegroups.com. Options at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/plots-boston?hl=en
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "plots-boston" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to plots-boston...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.