Letter to the Editor: Dutchess taxpayers may well be forced to pay through the nose for incinerator upgrades

November 24, 2023
11:01 am

Dear Editor:

Remember the old Fram filter commercials– “pay me now or pay me later”? Dutchess taxpayers may well be forced to pay through the nose for incinerator upgrades (or an entirely new incinerator) if we don’t wake up.

The recently approved county Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) states that the county’s “preferred option” for garbage management is burning it and “investment of millions of dollars” in the incinerator– “improving plant capacities.” We should be implementing cost-saving plans instead to ramp up recycling and composting towards zero waste.

As Clearwater, the Omega Institute, Mothers Out Front Dutchess, NYPIRG, et. al. pointed out in a 2021 letter: “Waste to energy facilities, particularly municipal solid waste incinerators are the dirtiest source of energy production on the grid today.”

A Zero-Waste-International-Alliance-certified zero waste consultant would only cost about $30,000– a miniscule amount compared to massive pay increases proposed for top county officials (68% higher pay for county legislators), $72 million county fund balance (budget surplus) and $600 million county budget.

Our County Legislature itself unanimously passed a resolution in March 2009 for the county to apply for federal funds for planning towards zero waste in Dutchess; it still has yet to follow up on this (that time is now).

Speak out for a ZWIA-certified zero waste consultant at the annual county budget hearing Monday, Dec. 4th at 7 pm on the sixth floor of the County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie.

Join Zero Waste Dutchess on Facebook; email zerowastedutchess@gmail.com for more information.