Something stinks and it’s not just the trash!The lease on the Detroit Incinerator is up for renewal on June 1, 2008.
The Detroit City Council has adopted a new plan for trash disposal which includes recycling and shutting down the incinerator.
Our Mayor wants to continue using this MONSTER POLLUTING/ASTHMA MACHINE!
We need to act NOW! Call and write to the Detroit City Council and thank them for moving us forward. Call and write the Mayor, ask him to reconsider the health, welfare and finances of Detroit. -The Detroit incinerator is contributing to the rising dioxin levels, cancer, asthma, and low birth weights in our neighborhoods.
The asthma rates for the 9 zip codes around the Incinerator are 4 times higher then the Michigan average. Detroit was just designated the ninth most air polluted city in the country. The Detroit Incinerator is the 6th largest pollution source of over 180 facilities in Wayne County monitored by the state. Wayne County is currently in violation of EPA air quality health standards. The Detroit Incinerator annually emits an estimated 600,000 tons of global warming carbon dioxide. The Detroit Incinerator only burns about 70% of the trash put into it and the resulting highly toxic ash (about 30%) goes to a landfill.
Our waste is one of the biggest resources for the future. What kind of products could Detroiters produce with the endless supply of this material? Recycling creates 10 times more jobs than incineration. It promotes environmental consciousness and responsibility. Detroit is the only city of the 30 largest cities in the United States that does not provide curbside recycling.
By continuing to burn these easily recycle-able items we will never make a full switch to recycling. We are losing the revenue from recycled raw materials. Again, Detroit will be left behind on one of the biggest movements toward a greener economy.-
Detroit Taxpayers have overpaid for trash disposal by an average of about $50 million per year over the last 20 years. In the fiscal year 2007-2008 Detroit residents are paying over $170/ton for trash disposal – about 5 to 7 times more then the suburbs pay.
If the Incinerator continues to be used the disposal costs are estimated to be 2 to 3 times higher then what the suburbs will pay. About half of the trash burned in the Detroit Incinerator is from suburban cities, about 50% of the toxic emissions such as lead, mercury and cancer causing dioxins are from suburban trash.
Detroit City Council 2 Woodward Ave(City County Bldg) (313) 224-3266
Council President Ken Cockrel, Jr. (313) 224-4505 CockrelK.CNCL.COUNCIL@kcockrel.ci.detroit.mi.us
Council President Pro-tem Monica Conyers(313) 224-4530
ConyersM@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilwoman JoAnn Watson(313) 224-4535
WatsonJ_mb@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel(313) 224-1337
S-Cockrel_mb@ckrl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins(313) 224-1298
Collins_MB@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilman Kwame Kenyatta(313) 224-1198
K-Kenyatta_MB@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi (313) 224-1645
A_Talabi_mb@atwpo.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilwoman Martha Reeves(313) 224-4510
m-reeves_mb@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us
Councilwoman Brenda Jones(313) 224-1245
Bjones_MB@cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us