Florida city weighs options after Covanta facility fire

A waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Doral, Florida, still is nonoperational after a fire at the facility two months ago that destroyed some of the facility and its equipment.

“The fire has been cleaned up now for at least a couple of weeks, but not all the debris from the fire has been taken out yet so that still needs to be cleaned up and moved to other facilities or other landfills,” Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, who represents Miami-Dade County’s District 12, tells Miami Today.

The fire started shortly after 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at the facility, which is operated by Morristown, New Jersey-based Covanta. The fire spread to four buildings on the site.

Officials say a conveyor belt is the suspected cause. The 40-year-old plant has been subject to odor and traffic complaints and reportedly needs upgrades.

Last July, the county commission voted in favor of building a new facility in the same location; however, residents wanted it elsewhere. In March of this year, county commissioners instead agreed to build the new facility at a different location. This decision authorized county Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to explore other possible sites for the facility and alternative technologies for disposing of solid waste without the use of incineration.

As previously reported by Waste Today, the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility can process up to 1 million tons per year.

“The Covanta Dade facility provides a vital service to our community and to our environment,” Miami-Dade County Director of Solid Waste Management Michael Fernandez said at the time. The report also indicated the plant was one of 10 WTE facilities in Florida, meaning the Sunshine State “relies on WTE more than any other state in the nation for disposal of municipal solid waste.”

Bermudez tells Miami Today he would like to consider technological options different from the current WTE facility.

The mayor’s office is to identify new sites and possible technologies to be used at the plant within 90 days of the commission’s directive, which makes the deadline June 7.