On Saturday, October 1,  2022, South Jersey Progressive Democrats (SJPD) mobilized and voiced their opposition to a new plan by the Camden Covanta facility to burn liquid industrial waste. This could involve the burning of substances such as industrial wastewater, landfill leachate, sludge, grease trap clean out, used oil, pharmaceuticals, and other industrial byproducts. Liquid waste recycling is the new monetization strategy to keep the aging incinerator in business.

The Covanta incinerator in Camden is the number one industrial air polluter in the county, emitting enormous amounts of greenhouse gases, fueling climate crisis, while also emitting toxic pollutants such as lead, mercury, fine particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds (VOC)s. What’s more, the Covanta incinerator in Camden is one of the most polluting in the entire nation, according to WHYY reporting.

Both Covanta and the NJDEP have stated that in order for the plan to move ahead, the Camden County Commissioners need to amend their solid waste disposal plan. Camden Commissioner Jeff Nash said at this meeting that he didn’t know anything about that and was unequally uninformed about the specifics of the new Covanta plan, the details and timeline of the state’s new Environmental Justice law, and even the consultant that the county has hired to analyze the impact of this proposal.

“It seems like Commissioner Nash is reprising his role as spokesman for Covanta, a role he played back in 2020 when the County was trying to connect a microgrid to the trash incinerator that is damaging the planet and public health. This is simply Covanta’s new monetization scheme and we are ready to vigorously oppose it. Our message to the county is clear: do not amend your solid waste disposal plan. Represent your constituents, not corporate polluters. In the name of public health and environmental and climate justice, we need to end our dependence on the Covanta incinerator,” said Kate Delany, President of South Jersey Progressive Democrats.

“Covanta’s Camden incineration facility is the most polluting, inefficient, and by far worst way to dispose of every type of waste. The  trash incineration business is dying. Not one jurisdiction in the United States has allowed the building of a new trash incineration plant since 1995 because it’s such a dumb idea. Covanta’s only option is to expand on its existing facilities and they see Camden as an easy target. The people of Camden and the region deserve better,” said Dorothy Foley, South Jersey Progressive Democrat and member of the Merchantville Green Team.

“Under the guise of offering solutions to solid waste management issues that the county has grappled with for years, Camden County officials continue to entertain Covanta’s desire to expand in a community hard hit by air pollution and environmental racism. Camden County officials need to be transparent about the increased funding and millions in federal grants since 2020 that we should be using to make improvements to our solid waste management infrastructure. If clean air, public health and environmental justice is a priority then county officials should be focused on bold solutions such as composting,” said Linda Rubiano, South Jersey Progressive Democrat and member of the Pennsauken Environmental Commission.

South Jersey Progressive Democrats ask that those who support their effort to advocate for an end to incineration and real representation from their elected officials please take action here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-the-camden-county-commissioners-its-time-to-close-covanta/. For more information about getting involved in the organizing work of South Jersey Progressive Democrats, email info@southjerseyprogressivedemocrats.org