Zero Burn Coalition hunger strikers say Hennepin County commissioners have refused to meet with them six days into their action demanding a vote to close the HERC trash incinerator by December 2027, as scientists, clinicians and community members gathered to make the case that the county’s 30-year-old permit is dangerously out of date.
Six days into a hunger strike, members of the Zero Burn Coalition say Hennepin County commissioners have refused to meet with them to discuss forcing a vote to close the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center trash incinerator.
Coalition members Nazir Khan, Natasha Villanueva and Joshua Lewis made the announcement April 15 outside Zion Baptist Church in North Minneapolis. The three are demanding a vote to close the incinerator, known as HERC, by December 2027. Environmental activists say Hennepin County is the only governing body with the authority to force the closure.
The standoff comes after the county board passed a resolution in October 2023 committing to eventually close the facility, sometime between 2028 and 2040, without setting a firm timeline…