MIAMI – Miami-Dade County commissioners were holding a special meeting Tuesday as they sought solutions in an ongoing saga over solid waste.
They’re looking for solutions regarding the replacement of a Doral incinerator that burned down in 2023.
“I think myself and other commissioners have been asking for this meeting for about two years,” Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez said.
The county landfills are almost up to capacity and nobody wants an incinerator in their backyard. So, on Tuesday, county officials put their heads together to finalize ideas.
“I want to be clear that through all of this fact-finding and due diligence, we feel extremely confident that a new waste-to-energy facility built to meet rigorous modern standards would be safe for people and the planet,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. “However, the costs of building and maintaining a new facility have proven to be extremely high.”
Levine Cava is now striking down the plan to build a new incinerator in Miami-Dade.
“I am recommending that we continue to long-haul waste via truck and rail,” she said.
As part of the meeting, a presentation on current waste challenges was followed by possible short and long-term solutions. Just in Miami-Dade County, trash services are provided to 350,000 households.
“The cost I think now based on her memo is something that makes a lot of sense,” Bermudez said. “Why spend $1.7 billion in something that will take 10-and-a-half years?”
The options so far include building an out-of-county landfill, using contracted capacity services to long-haul the trash outside the county, or building a waste-to-energy facility.
“Let’s put it all on the table and see what our options are,” Bermudez said.
Miramar residents showed up early in support of Mayor Levine Cava’s recommendation to eliminate the incinerator option as a possible short-term solution. The Opa Locka Airport West area near Miramar was an option.
This issue began after a fire burned down the county’s incinerator back in 2023 in Doral; then talks of where to rebuild the new one started.
The idea to rebuild in Doral was thrown into question after a call from Eric Trump, saying his family was against the incinerator being in their backyard. Right now, trash is being hauled via truck and train by a contractor outside of the county.
The meeting remained ongoing Tuesday afternoon. A vote on the issue will take place in February.