=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #85
—July 11, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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NOVEL SOLUTION TO SAN DIEGO’S GARBAGE PROBLEMS: SHIP IT TO INDIANS, MEXICO,
CHINA, KOREA.
A manufacturer of mass burn (garbage) incinerators has proposed a
novel solution to the solid waste problem for the city of San
Diego, which is California’s third largest city (pop. 875,000).
Ogden Martin Systems (a mass burn incinerator manufacturer), and
Taconic Resources–together calling themselves Recycle 2000–want
to collect 1.3 million tons of the city’s garbage at curbside,
already sorted into two components, recyclable and
non-recyclable. The recyclables (bottles, cans, and paper) would
be loaded onto ships and exported to Mexico and to Pacific Rim
countries (China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan); the non-recyclables
(everything else) would be sent by train across the desert to a
dump on the Campo Indian reservation. The plan would handle
about 80% of the city’s garbage.
Last year the San Diego City Council had backed a mass burn
incinerator on Kearny Mesa but the plan collapsed when city
voters overwhelmingly passed an initiative all but outlawing such
plants because of environmental and health considerations. The
city’s Miramar landfill is expected to be filled by 1995. The
plan offered by “Recycle 2000” would extend the life of the
Miramar landfill by 25 to 30 years because most of the
non-recyclable garbage would end up with the Indians, according
to the LOS ANGELES TIMES (May 12, 1988, Part II, p. 3).
The Indians reportedly favor the plan because they would be paid
for taking the garbage and they desperately need the income.
“It’s the worst kind of exploitation,” said one observer in San
Diego.
Diane Takvorian, Executive Director of the San Diego-based
Environmental Health Coalition, told HWN she fears there’s more
than meets the eye in the “Recycle 2000” proposal. The plan
would require authorities to spend $2 million to refurbish an old
railroad traversing the desert. Once the railroad is ready,
there would be nothing to stop its use for sending part of San
Diego’s trash past the Campo Indian Reservation out to Imperial
County where Ogden-Martin has trash-to-steam proposals pending.
Others in San Diego share Ms. Takvorian’s suspicion of the
project. They note that the man behind “Recycle 2000” is Richard
Chase, who has been pushing a trash-to-steam project in San
Marcos. “Ogden is going to get some burning out of this, you
wait and see,” said a local official who asked not to be named.
For more information, contact Diane Takvorian, Environmental
Health Coalition, 1844 Third Ave., San Diego, CA 92101; phone
(619) 235-0281.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: msw; san diego; mexico; china; korea;
transportation; incineration; ogden martin systems; recycling;
taconic resources; landfilling; miramar landfill; native
americans; diane takvorian; environmental health coalition;
richard chase;