Doral incinerator location might get a second look

The location of a new Miami-Dade waste-to-energy incinerator plant, currently set to be constructed in the City of Doral, may be revised in the future.

“If I get elected, I would request that the four different sites be considered,” said Juan Carlos Bermudez, city mayor and candidate for the District 12 county commission seat.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava decided not to veto the decision of the county commission to select Doral as the location for the new facility, to stand right next to the existing Covanta Dade Renewable Energy plant, her Chief of Staff Rachel Johnson confirmed to Miami Today.

Mayor Levine Cava had presented a report analyzing different locations for the new incinerator. The document, completed by consultant Arcadis, shortlisted four locations: at the existing site, in the Town of Medley, and two other locations on Ingraham Highway.

Further analysis was proposed by the company and the mayor requested in an accompanying memorandum “the opportunity to conduct community outreach with respect to the potential sites as we move forward.” It is unclear if Mayor Levine Cava will pursue community outreach in the future.

“At this point, I wouldn’t tell you exactly what mechanism I’d be able to use once I get there, but I would tell you that I would explore any mechanism to bring that discussion back,” Doral Mayor Bermudez told the newspaper. “I’m as bothered with the process not being done the right way as I am with the decision.”

County rules establish that an action by the commission may be reconsidered only at the same meeting at which the action was taken or at the next regular meeting thereafter. Nonetheless, the rules also say a motion to reconsider “may be made only by a commissioner who voted on the prevailing side of the question and must be concurred in by a majority of those present at the meeting.”

New county commissioners are to take office after November, including filling the seat of District 12. Term-limited incumbent commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz, representing the area, who proposed the motion to select Doral as the new location, argued that the property where the new facility would stand is already paid for and all the permits and reviews are already completed.

The preliminary report says constructing the new facility in Doral would take 7 years and 9 months, while the alternative location in the Town of Medley would take 9 years and 9 months.

The Doral plant has a $1.45 billion estimated capital cost, while the Medley facility would require $48.3 million in additional capital cost, a 4.2% increase when compared to the Doral site. As the newspaper previously reported, the documents note that both locations have air permitting challenges and have good access to major roads.

The report notes that the existing Doral site is less than a tenth of a mile from the nearest residential zoning and that community political leaders and environmental groups have expressed their opposition to the site. The Medley facility is directly adjacent to residential zoning and if chosen could face community opposition in the future as well.

The current 1982 plant is reaching the end of its useful life. The county aims for a 4,000-ton-plus mass burn combustion plant that is more efficient than the existing refuse-derived fuel plant.