Miami-Dade County

Miramar continues trash incinerator fight after Miami-Dade mayor backtracks

Miramar residents and the city's neighbor gathered outside the Miami-Dade Commission Chamber Tuesday to have their voices heard on the trash incinerator issue

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Miramar residents are once again trying to stop any proposal that would have a trash incinerator built in their backyard after Miami-Dade's mayor backtracked on her recommendation that it be kept in Doral.

Miramar residents and the city's neighbor gathered outside the Miami-Dade Commission Chamber Tuesday to have their voices heard on the trash incinerator issue.

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The county's trash incinerator in Doral was gutted by a fire in February 2023 and how to replace it has been a topic of discussion for nearly two years.

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Several sites have been considered including the old Opa-Locka West Airport location near Miramar.

In November, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she was recommending that the new trash incinerator be built at the site of the old one in Doral.

But this past weekend, Levine Cava announced that the county was now against pushing for a waste-to-energy plant or incinerator.

Levine Cava said costs and environmental concerns were factors in her decision.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava spoke about the county backtracking on rebuilding an incinerator. NBC6's Chris Hush reports

Last week, the county struck a deal with a company to haul trash by train to a landfill near Punta Gorda in southwest Florida, at a cost of at least $18 million per year.

But commissioners are still seeking a long-term solution and are expected to make a decision next month.

And Miramar residents want to keep an incinerator from being built nearby.

"It's something that we just don't want there," resident Alberto Salvi said. "It's Miami-Dade's garbage, and we don't want Miami-Dade's garbage in Miramar, and we don't want the toxicity in our air."

"We believe that there's technology that can treat our garbage in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way and I think that those options should be fully explored," Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam said.

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