Stanislaus County leaders received a staff update Tuesday on the upcoming closure of California’s last remaining garbage incinerator and also heard complaints about a lack of transparency in the past 10 months.
County officials kept things close to the vest after Covanta Energy, now Reworld, informed the county in December 2023 that the Crows Landing plant may close due to severe financial troubles.
Advocates for recycling and clean air tried to attend solid waste task force meetings related to the threatened closure, but found meetings were canceled for lack of quorum. For some reason, the leading solid waste issue for Stanislaus County and Modesto was not on committee meeting agendas.
With the release of reports and documents in Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors agenda, it was revealed that the county and its nine cities formed an “evaluation committee” to decide if a study was needed to evaluate the continued operation of the garbage burner.
According to the study by HDR Inc., the evaluation committee met each month to provide guidance and perspective because the cities have used the garbage incinerator.