Residents fighting Lake Co. waste incinerator
Opponents of using an incinerator as a way to dispose of trash in Lake County have amassed more than 1,600 signatures to help make their case.
Several members of the grass-roots group Incinerator Free Lake County, formed three weeks ago, will present the signatures and offer input Wednesday as the county board's public works and transportation committee considers an update of the solid waste management plan.
The meeting is at 10 a.m. at the Lake County building, 18 N. County St., Waukegan.
"I think the committee will have a lot of questions about technology," said County Board member Diana O'Kelly, public works chair.
Incineration is included in the plan, which runs through 2014, as an alternative to dumping garbage in landfills. The document already has been approved by the executive board of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County.
The agency oversees all aspects of municipal waste. It was formed in 1990 and represents about 85 percent of the county's population.
Committee members will discuss the plan and make a recommendation to the county board, which will consider it Dec. 8.
Because there is less than 10 years of permitted landfill capacity in the county, "mass burn incineration" is included as one of several alternatives.
The opposition group originated in the Prairie Crossing neighborhood of Grayslake near the Countryside landfill. Volunteers hit some stores at midnight and 4 a.m. on Black Friday and has secured supporters via its Web site, incineratorfreelakecounty.com.
"It's not just a Grayslake issue," said Liz Miller, a spokeswoman for the group. "We don't want an incinerator anywhere in Lake County."
Opponents want "waste to energy technologies" that use thermal, biological or chemical conversion also stricken from the plan as possibilities.
The group cites health and financial risks and other factors in its opposition and has forwarded a letter from a former Camden County, N.J., representative saying an incinerator opened there in 1991 has become a proven failure.
Opponents also have received a boost from County Board member Pat Carey, who opposed an incinerator in the area several years ago. As Grayslake mayor she negotiated language in the village's agreement with Countryside that precludes an incinerator being built there.
In a letter to the public works committee, Carey said she is concerned about the effect of incineration on air quality and said a commitment to that method could thwart recycling.
"For these reasons, I will oppose the inclusion of mass burn incineration in the plan," Carey wrote.