Trash To Energy Plant

[Conan71]

I see in this morning's Whirled that the folks who run the TTE plant are offering Tulsa a better rate to burn our trash, but the city is saying they can't do it due to their contract with the landfill.

Personally, I'd rather see trash incinerated than to dump it.

[RecycleMichael]

The disposal rate they are offering is still higher than the landfill.

This is a very complex issue, but contractual terms mean that Tulsa will begin taking all residential trash to the landfill July 1.

After that date, it is possible that something could be arranged or contracted to take trash to the plant.

[sgrizzle]

Red tape beats common sense every time.

[Conan71]

RM- what is the popular thought on disposal methods in the environmental community?  I get that there is CO2 released from burning trash, what about the methane gasses created and other substances which can leech into the ground from landfills?

[RecycleMichael]

They each have problems.

I hate landfills because they are constant reminders of our failures...we fail to buy the right amount, fail to try to reuse, and fail to recycle. The big mountain of trash just north of Mohawk Park will embarass me the rest of my life and I never took trash there.

Trash to energy plants take something that is ugly and by burning it, make it potentially dangerous to our health. The plant doesn't cause pollution, we do, when we throw away things like batteries that are full of metals and acids.

As an environmentalist, I like the fact the the burn plant is so regulated...landfills are not so.

I could argue the environmental points of each...I say it is about a draw.

[Conan71]

I think I would have liked the concept better if they would have used the steam to actually generate electricity.  My understanding when Ogden Martin was running it was that the steam was being sold to Sun Refinery, which I suppose helps cut emissions and fuel use that Sun otherwise would have to burn in boilers to make their plant steam.  I'm not sure if it satisfies all their plant steam demand or not.

[RecycleMichael]

The steam is still sold to Sun, but the trash to energy plant has recently upgraded their generator capacity in order to open their options.

The current generator (that has never been used but tested regularly) is 16.5 megawatt in size.

That is enough power to supply every home in west Tulsa with electricity.

[Conan71]

They have close enough rail head access to our TTEP, seems like NYC and other cities with disposal problems could ship their trash down here.  I know that adds cost to disposal, but seems like they were running out of places to dump it.

I do like that it doesn't leave a big smokin' heap on the landscape.

[Breadburner]

Why does this seem like such a no brainer.....Follow the trash to the landfill then up the ladder to find out why.....

[sgrizzle]

If anyone has seen "Idiocracy" then they'll know why the TTE plant is a good thing.

The great trash avalanche of 2505 was a bad thing, and caused by a recyclable bottle, even.

[Wrinkle]

Where's our Federal Grand Jury to determine why Tulsan's don't own this plant. Despite what the World prints in every article about the incinerator, this plant was owned by Tulsans until recently.

[RecycleMichael]

Not true.

Mayor Inhofe gave it away the day it opened.

[Wrinkle]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

Not true.

Mayor Inhofe gave it away the day it opened.

Well, it's time to prove it.
Let's see the documents.

[RecycleMichael]

The city has the original contracts on file. They are not accessible on the internet.

I am certain that the plant is owned by a New York investment firm called CIT. The sale was handled between the original owner, Ogden Martin Systems and them and was handled by the Bank of Oklahoma in September of 1986. The city was going to be an owner, but then Mayor Jim Inhofe decided not to because of what he called "concerns over future liability".

I think it was a ridiculous decision to agree to pay all operating costs on a plant that we didn't own. That decision has cost Tulsa taxpayers 180 million dollars.

Show me where this information is wrong.

[Conan71]

Wait a second.  Point of historical accuracy- Terry Young was mayor from '84-'86, or is this something Inhofe did that Young couldn't reverse?