Baltimore’s trash incinerator must drastically reduce its chemical emissions to comply with a bill passed unanimously by the Baltimore City Council on Monday night, which plant officials say may force it to close down.
Emissions from the incinerator, built in 1985 and operated by the New Hampshire-based company Wheelabrator, are the number one source of stationary air pollution in the city.
Dubbed the “Clean Air Act,” the bill represents a forceful assertion of city authority on an issue–pollution limits–that up until now has largely been left up to the state to regulate.
“It’s a great victory for the citizens of Baltimore,” Councilman Edward Reisinger, the bill’s sponsor, told Baltimore Fishbowl after the vote. Reisinger, whose district includes two incinerators, said his constituents have complained to him for years about their toxic effects on air quality. “This is the right thing to do,” he added.
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