Families Against Cancer & Toxics

Cochise County Concerned Residents (CCCR) today urged residents of Cochise County to attend an open Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 12 at 2 p.m. in the Supervisors Chambers on Melody Lane in Bisbee. The Board Work Session has been called to air pro and con views on the proposal to build a plasma arc incinerator near Sierra Vista.

Cochise County Concerned Residents was formed last year to investigate the "waste-to-energy" plant using a new brand of incineration called "plasma arc gasification" which a company called Global Energy Resources, LLC has proposed. This company claims that garbage can be transformed into electricity without producing harmful levels of toxic emissions and that it can save the county money over what is now spends on landfills.

Waste management experts, including those employed by the Department of Defense, have disputed these claims. They note that plasma arc incineration has failed to live up to its claims in government demonstration projects and have expressed concerns that the proposed facility would present significant health, environmental and financial risks to county residents.

CCCR shares these concerns. Incinerators and waste-to-energy plants have long been known as air polluters resulting in serious health consequences and huge clean-up costs. The EPA has long recognized that such combustion technologies are the main source of dioxin in the US environment. Dioxin is known to cause cancer, reproductive, developmental, immunological and other serious health problems in extremely small (a few parts per trillion) amounts and accumulates in human bodies.

Furthermore, this plant, if built, would be the first commercial facility in the world using plasma arc technology to burn municipal solid waste. In order to guarantee a sufficient waste supply under the proposed contract, garbage and tires may have to be imported from out of the county.

"In effect," said Michael Gregory, director of Arizona Toxics Information in Bisbee, "proponents of this scheme are suggesting that Cochise County residents, wild and domestic animals, and plant communities like the San Pedro Riparian area, become guinea pigs to test the company‚s claims."

In addition, David Leib, spokesperson for CCCR, said Global Energy Resources, which has been in business for less than a year, is led by a CEO who was under investigation for fraud by the California Attorney General.

Does this plasma arc sound too good to be true? Are the health, environmental and financial risks too high? Will it deflate property values? Will it negatively impact the tourist industry and wildlife? What about the credibility and track record of Global Energy Resources and other start-up companies proposing similar trash burners? CCCR invites other concerned residents to come to the meeting on April 12th and decide for themselves.