They Hate Alan Muller Because He is Right: Trash Incineration is Coming to Delaware

Alan Muller of Green Delaware was correct. Even though state and Delaware Solid Waste Authority officials denied it at the time, Muller predicted months ago precisely what is happening now: the proposed Cherry Island landfill expansion project would become the pretext for Delaware to begin trash incineration in Delaware.:

With space in Delaware's busiest landfill running short and calls for management reforms mounting, state officials on Wednesday announced plans to study alternatives to dumping, including trash incinerators, composting plants and other modern waste-to-energy alternatives. (link)

And Governor Minner, who posed for months as someone who wanted statewide recycling for Delaware, now reveals that her view has been just a pose all along, also as Muller predicted:

"Even fully mandatory recycling would not be a sufficient long-term solution to landfill capacity and solid-waste disposal concerns," Minner said in a letter to DNREC Secretary John A. Hughes. (link)

I would like to see the evidence that mandatory statewide recycling wouldn't be a sufficent long-term solution. State officials have a huge prime facie credibility problem on these matters,

DNREC Secretary John A. Hughes reveals how defensive Delaware officials are about Muller catching them red-handed:

"Is this a sneaky way of bringing an incinerator to Delaware? No it's not," Hughes said, adding: "I'm not going to be ruled by thought police." (link)

"I'm not going to be ruled by thought police” is also another way of saying “I’m not going to be ruled by my conscience.” No, you are not, Secretary Hughes, are you? Instead you will be ruled by the capital-intensive process of trash incineration because that is where the money is.

Here’s my prediction. The trash incineration plant will placed near the Cherry Island landfill in an area already fraught with industries that belch out considerable air pollution. This will be done as a matter of course without the least regard for the mostly poor minorities who live nearby.