Preserving and utilizing WASTEC the right move for New Hanover

More than twenty years ago, a forward thinking Board of County Commissioners established a modern solid waste disposal system for us. They researched the possible options and chose to build a waste-to-energy incinerator (called WASTEC) to work with a modern sanitary landfill to handle the needs of this community for many years to come. A bond to fund this proposal passed 13-1 and a later expansion bond passed by a 4-1 margin. The people have spoken - loudly.

And finally, those bonds are virtually paid off. It should be a time of rejoicing that we can now enjoy a respite from that debt but instead, yet another Solid Waste Advisory Board was appointed – at least the fourth, if memory serves. I was a member of two of them – and the recommendations from each of those Boards was the same – to continue to support WASTEC, maximize recycling, and landfill what cannot be burned or recycled. The people have spoken.

In the 1980s, state law mandated a 40 percent reduction in our waste. Instead, ours more than doubled. Yet, some scoff at the one waste reduction tool in our arsenal – WASTEC. Burning trash reduces its volume by roughly 85 percent - yet the arguments go on and on that we are still burying virtually the same weight of trash after incineration.   Landfills do not dispose of trash by weight – they dispose by volume. Three cubic feet of feathers takes up the same space as three cubic feet of lead. Weight is not a factor. Volume is.

The maintenance of WASTEC has been nickeled and dimed for years – and yet they ask why it doesn’t operate at peak efficiency. If I don’t keep up the maintenance on my car, it won’t run efficiently either.  I don’t enjoy the cost of oil changes, but it is necessary. WASTEC is just a machine. It needs care. With proper maintenance, it is estimated that WASTEC can continue to be a viable entity for another 20 years or more. Take care of it.

My friend recently toured our solid waste facilities with a UNCW class and found it most interesting and impressive.

She recommended public tours so everyone could see how well it is run. Have you visited WASTEC and the landfill? And, the constructed wetlands? Amazing!  Our programs are models around the world except in our own backyard. The world has spoken but our excellence is ignored locally. Makes me wonder!

An increase in tipping fees is given as an excuse for low maintenance. Yet, according to national statistics, the average family creates one and one half tons of trash per year.

Therefore, their annual tipping fee cost now is approximately $76.50. A dollar per ton increase would make that $78.00 – a whole $1.50 per year. The high bill you get comes from the haulers who are looking for a profit. Why not do as the City of Wilmington and establish a county-run system and eliminate the middle man?

Our recycling program is prehistoric compared to other areas. I saw better funded-programs 20 years ago. The lack of curbside collection in this almost totally urbanized area is incomprehensible. But when you deny the proper tools, expect the projects to fall below expectations or to utterly fail. The people have asked for these tools repeatedly. It’s time to listen.

The recommendation to send trash to another county bothers me a lot. In the first place, I believe it is a governmental responsibility to properly tend to its own resources, not ship them off to someone else.  Questions have been raised about the air pollution at WASTEC.

I know that the emissions are well within the federal and state standards – I also know I can’t say the same for the hundreds of large trucks that would be hauling trash 75-100 miles up the road, spewing smoke the whole way.

Tipping fees are another thing that would be totally out of our control. It’s like buying a house with a variable rate mortgage. You know what it will cost today and maybe for the next 2 or 3 years, but then watch out. If all our own resources are closed, we can be held hostage by another – and that is very uncomfortable to me. 

A 2002 Star News editorial praised the three Commissioners who voted to keep New Hanover County’s incinerator burning. And that was before the bonded debt was paid. The three who voted to keep WASTEC running were reelected or moved on to higher office in 2004. The people have spoken.

It’s time for this Board of Commissioners to listen to the people. The Board in 1981 had the courage and vision to finally move this county into the 20th century of solid waste disposal.  Please consider all the citizens in New Hanover County as we move into the 21st century. Don’t send us backwards.  The people have spoken.

Nancy Pritchett is executive director of Keep America Beautiful of New Hanover County.  She serves as a Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor. She also is a
former New Hanover County Commissioner.