HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0462.006 2018-2020 Murashige, Laura
t T
From: Dani Burger <fitdaniburger@cimail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 1:20 PM 1011 SEP 16 PH 2- 02
To: Council Testimony
Subject: OPPOSE Resolution 301
To whom it may concern,
I am writing with testimony to Res. 301-19. 1 believe that when you take into account examples of current
waste-to-energy incineration projects, you will see that the development is a burden, and not a boon, to the
very communities these projects are supposed to benefit.
Like many counties, Hawai'i County is at a point of reckoning with problems with solid waste. The South Hilo
Sanitary Landfill is capping, and now 6 trucks will carry the garbage to Kona every day. An active citizenry,
such as the people you are hearing from today, are working to raise awareness and reduce waste from end
users; actually reducing wasted materials as well as the fuels necessary to transport and distribute so many
goods. Savvy households are making choices about packaging, or choosing to forego new purchases in order
to reduce their municipal output. The goal of these citizens and their organizations is to shrink the waste
stream, leaving nothing for a waste-to-energy facility. Many of these facilities contract for a minimum amount of
waste per annum; as we grow and change as a population, will there still be enough waste to account for these
requirements? Can we divert more waste to recycle and reuse? How would that affect and be affected by our
contract with a waste-to-energy plant?
If our goal is to reduce waste, we should do just that- reduce waste.
While waste-to-energy solutions are not technically fossil fuels, many groups like the Institute for Local Self
Reliance argue that waste is not a renewable resource. Once the waste is burned, producing energy relies on
new waste generation from the community or surrounding communities; much of which is plastic and almost all
of which has traveled from across the Pacific to be here.
If incinerators improve local environmental conditions, why are so many situated in poorer communities? If we
cannot proudly place our incinerator on Haili Hill, then we need to rethink the environmental impact of a new
waste-to-energy project.
With Aloha,
Craig and Danielle Burger
Comm.No.
Ref.T*:'P1hWEf,'1Vo
Ref. Owe SEP 1 72019