Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/
Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies - www.kevindayhoff.net - Runner, writer, artist, fire and police chaplain. The mindless ramblings of a runner, journalist, and artist: National and International politics. For community see www.kevindayhoff.org. For art, writing and travel see www.kevindayhoff.com
Monday, November 07, 2011
Vote for your favorite decorated recycling bin “Art Bin”
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Latest News from Waste Not! Carroll Update
http://www.wastenotcarroll.org/
Carroll County Times Calls For Board To Honor Promise on WTE
Read the editorial here.
Maryland Set to Become America's Smoldering Trash Can
Three Letters in the Paper That Are Worth Reading
Three recent letters in the Carroll County Times that are worth a read. To see them, click...
Here
And Here
And Here
More evidence that incinerators produce harmful nanoparticles
Bankrupted Harrisburg, PA trying to sell Incinerator to Get Out Of Debt
Harrisburg Mayor Proposes Asset Sale, Possible Tax on Commuters
Carroll County Landfill Now Offers Styrofoam Recycling
Public decries waste-to-energy project
Lehigh To Start Burning Trash!
Wheelabrator admits to dumping untreated wastewater, ash into wetlands
Industry encroaches on Maryland's Civil War battlefields
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, April 25, 2011
FREDERICK -
Standing behind the old brick Worthington House, visitors can look down the gently sloping hillside and picture the Civil War battle that likely saved the nation's capital from capture.
Much of the farmland where Union soldiers fought that hot summer day in 1864 to delay a Confederate attack on Washington has been preserved as Monocacy National Battlefield. But the view from the Worthington farm, where the fighting began, appears fated to become less historic.
A huge waste-to-energy plant is planned just across the Monocacy River from the 1,650-acre park - a project that has sparked criticism as the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. One hundred fifty feet tall, with a 270-foot smokestack, the facility will loom over the trees that hide areas where Confederate cavalry forded the river to assault Union infantry.
"This will be visible from the visitors center and other key parts of the battlefield," said Susan W. Trail, superintendent of the historic park on the southern outskirts of Frederick. "It will, in my view, overwhelm part of our landscape." Click Here to Keep Reading.
Frederick County's future dimming
The long debate in Frederick County over the proposed incinerator/"waste-to-energy" facility for burning waste has left this citizen unconvinced of its merits. Instead of a public process where citizen concerns were addressed adequately and the inevitable benefits of the system portrayed conclusively, we have a series of decisions that leave disappointment and powerlessness in their wake.
The extreme costs locked into the system will inevitably hurt citizens inFrederick County; we'll watch our waste bills increase over time while others profit running our systems. This inflexible, no-turning-back technology will condemn us to a solution not used in decades and which is rapidly becoming totally obsolete. The debt service on the bonds, and, make no mistake about it despite the claims of Blaine Young, all the costs of these operations and management that we'll contractually pay are a burden and long legacy for citizens. Click Here To Keep Reading.
Lots of News and Updates
* Paid lobbyists, industry representatives, and misguided county employees have once again been making the rounds trying to drum up support for a trash burning plant. This handy guide helps separate fact from fiction in the waste incineration debate. Click here to view/download.
* Robin Davidov, head of the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority, spoke to Waste Not! Carroll last month. Here is video of her presentation and the lively Q & A that followed. Click here to see the video.
* The folks from the Environmental Integrity Project spoke at Waste Not! Carroll's March meeting. They are involved in helping to ensure that existing and proposed incinerators meet current and future air quality standards. Despite what the pro-incinerator lobby claims, trash burning plants produce a lot of pollution and very little electricity. In fact when you compare an incinerator to a coal power plant - as the Environmental Integrity Project has done - you begin to see just how bad for the environment trash burning plants really are. (Thanks to Robbie Orvis from the Environmental Integrity Project for researching and compiling the data). Click here to see this shocking comparison.
* Composting is an important part of any reasonable approach to waste management. This community in PA is showing just how easy curbside compost pick-up is to implement in a small sized municipality. Click Here to Read More.
* One of Frederick County's Commissioners is trying to bully Carroll County into making a decision about whether or not they still want to help build a trash burning plant. Click here to get the full story.
SHOCKER: Industry Lobbyist Tries to Mislead Public
Tempe Startup Turns Garbage into Compost
EcoScraps has inked deals with grocers and wholesalers to haul it away and use it as a key ingredient in organic compost and potting soil that it sells at independent nurseries. The company plans to add 88 Bashas' stores and is looking for others in addition to its existing wholesaler supply, said Brandon Sargent, EcoScrap's co-founder and vice president. It hasn't been too difficult to get grocers to sign on, Sargent said, because trash companies charge stores by the weight of what's hauled away. Click Here To Keep Reading.
Hundreds stage noisy protest outside public consultation over incinerator
The demonstration then took to the streets of the city centre, first to the sundial and onto New George Street, along Old Town Street, and then back down Royal Parade and then back to the Guildhall.
To rousing cheers speakers highlighted the myriad of concerns residents and others had raised since the various bids to build incinerators in the region were put in last year. Click Here To Keep Reading.
If You Can't Convince Them...Then Confuse Them
Interview with Waste Not!'s Don West
As both the cost and the environmental impact of incineration has become more apparent, you would be hard pressed to find anybody these days who actually thinks that burning trash is a good idea. So what should we do with our trash? For a better understanding of what is at play in the debate over how to handle this county's solid waste (and an excellent summation of the facts in this debate), have a peak at this interview with Don West on Sykesville Online - click here to see it. Or Here.
...Oh, and what's the deal with camel? You'll just have to read the interview to find out!
South Carroll Student Starts Composting Project
The project was the idea of 17-year-old Emily Peterson, a senior at the school, who has been working since the beginning of the school year to start a compost program there.
SHA will be donating 58 large aluminum panels for the project, and the students will begin building the bins in February.
The school will use the compost from cafeteria waste for general landscaping, planting American chestnut trees and other environmentally-friendly projects around the campus.
AG investigating waste incinerator - Employees tell of pollution releases
Boston Globe Staff / January 4, 2011Attorney General Martha Coakley is investigating Wheelabrator Saugus, the waste incinerator responsible for burning trash from 15 North Shore cities and towns, for alleged environmental violations including the discharge of hazardous chemicals into the air and water, according to several people who said they were interviewed by state officials.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
RECYCLING: Performance artists prove you can cheaply redecorate.
http://www.adn.com/2011/04/29/1837267/someone-elses-discarded-paint.html
By MIKE DUNHAM mdunham@adn.com
Published: April 30th, 2011
MARC LESTER / Anchorage Daily News
http://www.adn.com/2011/04/29/1837267/someone-elses-discarded-paint.html
John Perez, a technician at the hazardous waste facility at the Anchorage Landfill, collects discarded latex and water-based paint. Drums of that paint will be solidified with bentonite before being disposed of in the landfill. The hazardous waste facility also operates a paint reuse program there and at the Central Transfer Station in ... http://www.adn.com/2011/04/29/1837267/someone-elses-discarded-paint.html
Charles Oakley and Jorge C. Bailey are "spray can artists." You may have seen them at the Saturday Market, Alaska State Fair, Three Barons Fair and other venues. In what they describe as "performances," they create detailed pictures of mountains, whales, guitars, planets and such -- all in roughly eight minutes.
And they do most of it with paint that someone else has thrown away.
"About 60 percent of our art uses recycled paint," said Bailey.
The artists appreciate the eco-friendly aspect of their medium. And they like the fact that they get it for free through the Municipality of Anchorage Hazardous Waste Reuse Program.
So can anyone else.
The program, contracted to Emerald Alaska, a branch of Seattle-based Emerald Services, gives away orphaned paint and more at the Anchorage Regional Landfill near Eagle River and the Central Transfer Station near the Old Seward Highway and International Airport Road.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/04/29/1837267/someone-elses-discarded-paint.html
http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2011/05/anchorage-daily-news-someone-elses.html
Monday, October 11, 2010
Rescuing resources: WasteNot! Carroll pitches in By Lois Szymanski
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Soundtrack Op-ed: “Waste Not! – Carroll” speaks out on MGA incinerator legislation
Soundtrack Op-ed: Don West, co-founder of “Waste Not! – Carroll” speaks out on Maryland General Assembly incinerator legislation
February 14, 2010
On Saturday, February 13, 2010, the Carroll County Times Opinion Page gave Senate Bill 228 a “thumbs down”. The bill, sponsored by Senator Alex Mooney, R – District 3 (Frederick and Washington Counties), prohibits the Maryland Department of the Environment from issuing a permit for the construction of an incinerator unless certain conditions are met.
Included in those conditions are that the incinerator is located in an area zoned for heavy industrial activity and that the site is at least 3 miles from a church, school, park, hospital or residential dwelling.
The CC Times asserts that Mooney was disingenuous in offering the legislation. Yet, Senator Mooney states he has received thousands of e-mails from his constituents in opposition to the Waste to Energy (WTE) incinerator that is proposed in his district. Rather than disingenuous, I view his legislation as an example of a senator responding to the needs and desires of those he serves.
The same column accuses Mooney of political posturing in an election year. That charge is easy enough to refute – Senator Mooney introduced a similar bill in last year’s legislative session. Last year was not an election year for County Commissioners in either Frederick or Carroll Counties.
Speaking of politicizing the issue, our own Commissioner Michael Zimmer ventured to Annapolis to testify against the same bill last week. He said he wants to make sure that Carroll County has an opportunity to reap the same benefits of WTE incineration as Baltimore City and Montgomery and Harford County. After examining this issue in some detail, I’m wondering what benefits Commissioner Zimmer has in mind?
Perhaps it’s all the money to be spent? With current projected construction costs upwards of $600,000,000, plus the financing and the anticipated operating expenses for the life span of the incinerator, we are facing a total cost to taxpayers in Carroll and Frederick in excess of 2 billion dollars!
Given current budgetary problems, I don’t see how anyone would view an expenditure of this magnitude a ‘benefit’. If you are interested in how bad it can get, look to Harrisburg, PA, where the city is nearly bankrupt following a botched upgrade to their incinerator.
Another ‘benefit’ of WTE incineration that proponents like to cite is the electrical energy the facility will generate. What they don’t say is that the incinerator is in reality a poor source of power, generating only about 1/10 of the electricity of a typical electrical plant. Also, any power generated goes first to the operation of the facility. Then Frederick County, as majority partner, gets second priority for the power.
Finally, Carroll County can get what’s left, providing we pay for it. That’s right, we will pay for the electricity generated by burning the trash that we pay to have burned in the incinerator that we are paying for! At the Dickerson facility in Montgomery County, financial records show that money from the sale of electricity doesn’t even offset service on the bonds issued for the initial construction of that incinerator; operating costs are borne by the residents and taxpayers.
In fact, if you compare the energy saved by recycling or composting waste destined for the incinerator versus the energy provided from its combustion, incineration is an enormous Waste of Energy!
Proponents of the incinerator would like you to think that with an incinerator burning our trash, we will no longer need landfills. This is false. First of all, as much as 20 – 25% of our solid waste can’t be burned. Most yard waste and construction & demolition refuse are two examples - other disposal methods will need to be used.
Plus the residual ash from the incinerator will need to be dealt with. Some propose that using the ash as a daily cover at the landfill is appealing. Montgomery County, however, pays to haul its ash to Virginia, where it is handled as a hazardous waste, at an additional cost of several million dollars per year. I’m not seeing any great benefit there, either.
Finally, proponents like to say that emissions from the Waste to Energy incinerator will be closely monitored. Carroll and Frederick’s agreement allows for the monitoring of 12 regulated emissions. Unfortunately, a recent report from the MDE for the Harford County incinerator identified nearly 200 toxins released! If that’s the level of monitoring we can expect at our proposed incinerator, I don’t think I would want my family to live 30 miles from such a facility.
An editorial in the CCT’s the following day accuses Senator Mooney of a “Not In My Backyard” motivation for proposing his legislation. Superficially, I can see where that could be argued, except that the adoption of his bill would mean that nobody in Maryland would have an incinerator within 3 miles of their home, school or church.
Perhaps it’s more accurately portrayed as NIABY, “ Not In Anybody’s Backyard”. For that, Mooney’s attempt at regulating future incinerator locations should be applauded, not ridiculed.
Some may view Senator Mooney’s legislation as an intrusion of state government into a local issue. However, when our local elected officials ignore the views of their constituents, and more importantly, the facts and ramifications of their decisions, seeking the assistance of another level of our government is our right and obligation.
Don H. West
Westminster
The writer is a co-founder of Waste Not! - Carroll
http://tinyurl.com/yfbl399
Admin Letters to KevinDayhoffNet, Enviro Solid Waste Man, Enviro Solid Waste Man Recycling, Enviro Solid Waste to Energy
Saturday, May 03, 2008
20080503 Links to related materials on Carroll County Maryland’s future solid waste management decisions…
The 3-minute interview: Robin Davidov
Matthew Santoni, The Examiner 2008-04-21
Why have Carroll and Harford had such different reactions to plans for new waste-to-energy plants?
The difference, I think, is that
How does waste-to-energy compare to increased recycling, which is being discussed as an alternative in Carroll?
Our first steps are to reduce, reuse and recycle. But not everything can be recycled. To those who say, “Let’s recycle more instead of burning it for energy,” it’s not an either/or.
How do you respond to citizens’ worries about the facilities producing greenhouse gases and pollutants such as dioxins?
Waste-to-energy plants actually emit less greenhouse gas than trucking and landfilling garbage because landfills produce methane, which is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Dioxins are really pervasive. We’re pretty sure — not 100 percent — but pretty sure they’re destroyed at really high temperatures.
Examiner
Members of environmental panel quit over incinerator vote
Limo group: Unlicensed drivers ‘everywhere’ during prom season
3-year-old boy critically injured in lawnmower accident.
NAACP calls for statewide rally to protest killings by police
Public safety positions funded
The 3-minute interview: John B. Townsend II
The 3-minute interview: Esther Johnson
The 3-minute interview: Sandra Quel
The 3-minute interview: James Williams
The 3-minute interview: Vaughn Bennett
The 3-minute interview: Barry Levinson
The 3-minute interview: Greg Hamm
The 3-minute interview: George Jones
The 3-minute interview: Natalie Eddington
The 3-minute interview: Ann Compton
State Hispanic population growing; officials rethink outreach programs
Hispanic population in Md., Va.
Public pressure prompts change in natural gas project
Sewage sludge critics urge ban on spreading
Madame Tussauds cuts ticket prices, citing economic factors
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Links to related materials on Carroll County Maryland’s future solid waste management decisions… Related to: 20080331 Future of Solid Waste Public Hearing Dates Released
20080317 Recent columns on the future of Solid Waste Management in Carroll and Frederick Counties
20080309 The Sunday Carroll Eagle: “History will know us by our trash”
April 16, 2008
Kevin E. Dayhoff
Tomorrow the Carroll County Board of Commissioners will deliberate in open session and – hopefully – make a decision regarding the offer from
In The Tentacle:
March 6, 2008
Kevin E. Dayhoff
The February 26th joint meeting between
March 5, 2008
Making Trash Go Away – Part One
Kevin E. Dayhoff
On February 26, the
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Related: Environmentalism Solid Waste Management or
Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Recycling or
Environmentalism Solid Waste Management Waste to Energy
And:
19880900 To Burn or Not to Burn an interview with Neil Seldman
19960900 The Five Most Dangerous Myths About Recycling
“Pay as you throw” By Carrie Ann Knauer, Times Staff Writer Sunday, August 12, 2007
20070912 Carroll County EAC votes to promote recycling by Carrie Ann Knauer
20071112 Frederick County seeks Carroll participation in trash incinerator
Carroll County Times editorial from November 14, 2007: “Talk some trash with the county”
20080318 Frederick News Post Tourism Council opposes incinerator by Karen Gardner
20080331 Future of Solid Waste Public Hearing Dates Released
http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/pubworks/sw-future/default.asp
Board of
Future of Solid Waste Dates Released
Commissioner Discussion on WTE Shared Facility March 28, 2008
Future of Solid Waste Options March 10, 2008, public discussion
Future of Solid Waste Options March 5, 2008, public discussion
Joint meeting with Frederick County Board of County Commissioners
February 26, 2008
Presentation on home composting February 28, 2008
Economics of a shared Waste-to-Energy facility February 21, 2008
Presentation of recycling policy February 14, 2008
Discussion of integrated materials management strategy November 19, 2007
Report on recycling and update on solid waste August 14, 2007
Environmental Advisory Council Meetings
County's electronic recycling March 11, 2008
Food waste composting January 8, 2008
Council priorities review December 11, 2007
Presentation on composting November 13, 2007
Resource assessment, continuation of EAC discussion on waste management October 9, 2007
EAC discussion on waste management September 11, 2007
Pay per throw, Recycling August 14, 2007
Municipal waste options July 10, 2007
Waste To Energy Option for Carroll County
U.S. Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration
Waste to Energy: Investment/Expense/Income
Environmental Advisory Council Recommendations on Addressing
Solid Waste in Carroll County
Environmental Advisory Council Recommendations (DPW's presentation)
Multiple Pathway Health Risk Assessment
Municipal Waste Combustion Ash, Soil, and Leachate Characterization
Carroll County Waste Reduction, Recycling and Buy Recycled Policy
Resource Assessment (Richard Anthony report)
Integrated Materials (Waste) Management System
Carroll County, Maryland Solid Waste Management Options (R.W. Beck report)