Waste Not! Carroll

By Ellis Burruss

From the Frederick News-Post

June 2 2010

A few years ago I mentioned to a friend that I would like to get a flat-screen TV, but could not afford it. He said, "Well, you don't have to pay for it, just put it on your credit card."

The Saturday letter in The FNP from my very good friend and esteemed colleague Harvey Alter reminded me of that incident when he implied that the building of a $527 million WTE-incinerator will not affect county finances. He states that "... the plant will be financed with bonds guaranteed by the plant's revenue ... "

That's not true. There's no such guarantee in the incinerator contract. Yes, the plant would generate income from tipping fees and electricity sales. No, these will not be sufficient to meet the cost of the bonds and operating expense.

Paying off the bonds for the plant at 3 percent over 30 years will be $799 million. The operating cost over the same period will be $952 million. There will be some income from electricity sales, but there will be more expenses too (ash disposal, maintenance, upgrades). The cost of processing a ton of waste will likely require a tipping fee between $80 and $125 per ton.

Frederick and Carroll counties do not generate the 1,500 tons/day of waste needed to operate the plant. We will have to import, and to do so, we will have to compete with landfills charging $50 to $70/ton. If we cannot cover the costs with a competitive tipping fee, where will the difference come from? The ultimate guarantors of the bonds are the property owners of Frederick and Carroll counties who will pay through "system benefit charges" on our tax bills.

No matter how hard Harvey tries, he cannot alter the fact that the nearly $2 billion debt for the WTE-incinerator will be on the credit card of the citizens of Carroll and Frederick counties.

ELLIS BURRUSS, candidate for Frederick County Commissioner, Brunswick