Mayor Luke Bronin told the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority鈥檚 board of directors Wednesday that bringing 鈥渕assive amounts of trash鈥� into Hartford shouldn鈥檛 be the long-term solution to a looming waste crisis slated to impact about 50 towns in less than a year.
MIRA burns trash from those towns to create power at its facility in Hartford. But age and declining electricity revenue mean the decades-old plant located in the South Meadows is scheduled to close by July 2022.
That closure has left open a big question about how cities and towns in the region will deal with hundreds of thousands of tons of garbage. And the clock is ticking.
On Wednesday, MIRA said it鈥檚 working with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to turn its current trash-burning facility into a transfer station, even though MIRA initially said it wouldn鈥檛 do that.
Bronin said that his city isn鈥檛 taking 鈥渁 position of uncompromising resistance鈥� to helping MIRA solve its waste problem but that the agency needs a better plan for its future.
鈥淲e鈥檙e open to hosting a next-generation technology,鈥� Bronin said. 鈥淲e are not open to having a massive amount of trash trucked into the South Meadows only to be then transferred out.鈥�
鈥淚 am adamantly opposed to this becoming a long-term transfer station,鈥� Bronin said, noting he saw 鈥渓ong-term鈥� as more than two to three years.
鈥淚n the absence of a compelling and convincing plan that there will be a near-term end date, with a plan for replacement, I will do everything I can possibly do to prevent this from moving forward,鈥� Bronin said.
Right now, it鈥檚 unclear what a plan for replacement would be or who would pay for it.
In July of 2020, the state DEEP rejected the current MIRA facility, noting issues with plant reliability and the proposed of the new build-out.
MIRA President and CEO Tom Kirk told board members Wednesday that the agency is 鈥渃harging full speed ahead鈥� with applying to the DEEP to modify existing permits. If approved, those modifications could pave the way to a transfer station in Hartford.
Kirk said the agency is soliciting proposals from private vendors who are interested in moving that garbage. He said access to South Meadows is key to making that idea work.
鈥淲e believe we will likely need access to the South Meadows tipping floor 鈥� for loading trucks for out-of-state disposal,鈥� Kirk said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be moving a thousand tons a day, a full day鈥檚 drive away. Our infrastructure for doing that, in the absence of South Meadows, is going to be very, very challenged.鈥�
Bronin said he hopes to meet privately with MIRA and DEEP leadership, but he told board members any such conversations should be linked not only to the future of the South Meadows site, but also to the future of MIRA itself.
鈥淚n the absence of a new plan, and new commitment from the state that makes such a plan feasible, it鈥檚 becoming increasingly hard for me to see the purpose for MIRA鈥檚 existence,鈥� Bronin said.
