BALTIMORE — Community members in South Baltimore are taking on the massive incinerator in their neighborhood.
The South Baltimore Community Land Trust is filing a civil rights complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency against the incinerator.
"The residents of the South Baltimore community and those six communities surrounding Bresco are sick and tired of being the armpit for the Baltimore City urbanization," said Cherry Hill resident Michael Middleton.
The group, assisted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Environmental Integrity Project, conducted their own research as a part of submitting the complaint.
According to their research, the pollution coming from the smoke stack falls throughout the community.
Which some residents blame for their health issues.
"Where I'm obligated now to take medicine every day because I'm... waking up out of my sleep coughing up toxins," said Angela Smothers of Mt. Winans.
The group hopes the complaint leads to a formal investigation by the EPA.
The results could show exactly what makes it out of the incinerator and its impacts on the community.
Mary Urban, WIN waste's Senior Director of communications released a statement following the group's press conference.
WIN Waste Baltimore safely converts residential and business waste into renewable energy. Following last year’s completion of $45 million in upgrades to its air-quality control systems, WIN Waste Baltimore is among the lowest-emitting waste-to-energy facilities in the world. Not only does research [winwastebaltimore.com] clearly demonstrate that our operations have a negligible impact on ambient air quality, our facility is reducing greenhouse gases by diverting waste from landfills, which release methane, and reducing use of fossil fuels for energy. While we actively invest in waste reduction initiatives like supporting the City’s recycling efforts during COVID and partnering with sustainability nonprofit 4MyCity on the region’s most ambitious residential composting program, the amount of waste generated by the city continues to grow each year. Managing waste locally reduces the number of tractor-trailer trips required to haul waste to distant disposal sites, reducing traffic-related air pollution, which is the leading cause of air pollution affecting people in urban areas. Moving away from waste-to-energy, the City has estimated, would cost taxpayers roughly $100 million to expand local landfill capacity and build transfer stations to transport more waste out-of-state.
Ultimately, the group wants to see less waste burned at the incinerator and diverted to other facilities.
