POUGHKEEPSIE – After hearing from eight members of the community who rallied against the adoption of the new Dutchess County Local Solid Waste Management Plan, the Republican majority voted to adopt the plan put forth by the county executive. The 10-year plan is a requirement of the New York State DEC to maintain an environmentally friendly waste management program. The previous plan was adopted in 2012.
Seventeen Republicans voted in favor of the plan while seven Democrats opposed it. Democrat Randy Johnson was absent.
Of the eight speakers, David Heller of Rhinebeck likened the new plan to the Flint, Michigan water pollution issue. In taking a shot at the proponents of the county incinerator, Heller called the legislature a group of “illiterate pyromaniacs.” The environmentally friendly members of the audience disagreed on ways to improve the county’s composting rate with one woman calling for the use of an anaerobic digestion system for food waste while another denounced the plan, calling for an aerobic composting system instead. The new plan calls for an increase in recycling through composting but offers no definitive goals or milestones, as pointed out by Democratic Lawmaker Craig Brendli (City of Poughkeepsie).
The county currently burns 45 percent of the county’s solid waste which equates to hundreds of tons of trash at the incinerator on Sand Dock Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie. On the recycling side, in 2012, the county had a recycling rate of 36 percent. In 2022, that number had risen to 42 percent, which is higher than the state average.
Minority Leader Yvette Valdés Smith voted against the plan because it fails to set goals for composting and other methods of reducing waste. “We are better than this,” she said in urging for more environmentally friendly ways to manage the waste.
Hours before the meeting, Legislator Randy Johnson of the City of Poughkeepsie told Mid-Hudson News that he would vote in favor of the plan if he was able to attend. “Burning trash is not a bad idea,” he claimed. “The EPA monitors the emissions at the burning facility, and so far, this is the most efficient way to get rid of trash.” He noted that his City of Poughkeepsie is one of the municipalities that sends waste to the county for incineration.
