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Incinerator in line for expansion

By Ric Oliveira, Standard-Times staff writer

FALL RIVER --The city's incinerator, which bellows smoke over Interstate 195 and can be seen for miles, could expand and become a regional facility if approved by the Legislature.

Senate Majority Leader Thomas Norton, D-Fall River, has filed a bill that could help the incinerator meet federal clean air standards. The bill would transfer part of $7 million already appropriated for a municipal co-generation facility at the Industrial Park, which has yet to get off the ground.

The bill would transfer $5 million toward the upgrades.

City officials say the incinerator, the only one in the state run municipally, will require between $18 million and $28 million in upgrades to bring it up to federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, which take effect by January 2003.

The SEMASS plant in Rochester, a private waste-to-energy facility, could face a regional Fall River plant as a major competitor in the trash market.

The city would also like to see the incinerator increase its capacity from 200 tons a day to 600 tons a day so that the city could handle waste from other communities and use the fees to pay for the upgrades.

Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. said the $5 million would help the city get started if the legislation is passed.

Sen. Norton said he believes the bill will go through without controversy.

"Business continues at the State House," he said. "We can't act on controversial issues. But this will not be viewed as controversial."

Sen. Norton said that waste disposal is a major problem in the SouthCoast and upgrading the Fall River incinerator will make it easier for many of the towns in the area to remove their waste efficiently.

"We've always looked at burning as a part of the overall solution," he said. "Obviously, the best single answer to the state's waste problem is expanded recycling," he added. "However, until markets are developed to handle the increased flow of recyclables, we are going to have to depend on our existing landfills and burn facilities."

City officials are pleased with the action and are hoping it will pass and the state will release the funds soon.

"I am thrilled," said Mayor Lambert. "I think the senator has taken a real step to move in a practical way to help the city."

Westport, he said is already shipping waste to the city, but capacity must be increased before other agreements can be made. These funds would be the first big step in that direction, he said.

"Once we have upgraded it to be able to burn 600 tons (per day), we can invite other communities to come into the incinerator," he said. "It would be our long-term hope that the incinerator can become a regional access center that will help to pay for it's rehabilitation."

And though an expanded Fall River incinerator would be competing with the SEMASS plant for out-of-town trash, it appears there is enough to go around.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, combustion facilities and landfills account for 53 percent of the waste that was managed in the state. Of that, 66 percent was incinerated. There are eight other incinerators in the state.