Debate On Again Over Site for Trash-to-Power Plant

A proposed trash-to-energy plant, which has “kicked around San Diego County” for nearly nine years before coming to rest in Clairemont Mesa, will be open to criticism once again from San Diego residents and air control officials after an application for construction is submitted next week.

Officials of Signal Environmental Systems Inc., the company chosen by the San Diego City Council to build the San Diego Energy Recovery (SANDER) project, plan to submit the application to the state California Energy Commission on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.

A yearlong environmental review by the commission will follow, and the commission will hold public hearings on the project in San Diego.

The plant, which would burn 2,500 tons of garbage a day to supply the power needs of more than 60,000 San Diego households, is planned for the city’s Miramar landfill, south of Miramar Naval Air Station in Clairemont Mesa.

Plant sites in Chula Vista, National City and Southeast San Diego had been considered and abandoned after opposition developed.

The processing plant is expected to help solve San Diego’s trash disposal problems as well as provide an inexpensive source of energy. But critics, who charge that the state does not regulate all the toxins that could be emitted from such a facility, say they still want to see it located elsewhere.

Janet Brown, a member of Citizens Advocating a Safe Environment, said her organization opposes building the plant within city limits. “We think instead of moving (the plant) from place to place, they should find a suitable location where it is not close to any residential areas,” she said.

The Miramar landfill location is two miles from the nearest residential area, but Brown said that is insufficient. “These emissions come out of 190-foot stacks,” she said. “There are many unanswered questions.”

Ernesto Perez, an adviser to the Energy Commission, said the problem of plant location is a sticky one. “Waste-energy technology forces a dilemma on the applicant in that they have to be located as close to the waste as is feasible.”

Perez added, “That project has been kicked all over San Diego County. Some locations were relatively close to residential structures. Most people don’t want to live next door to a power plant.”

After years of looking for an ideal place to build the waste-to-energy plant, Signal officials say the Clairemont site is ideal. Dump trucks bringing garbage to the plant would have easy access to freeways by way of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. And the location at the city landfill would make it easy to dispose of the ashes from the burned garbage.

Delores Davies, a spokeswoman for Signal, said the company has dealt with the problem of air pollution. “Signal is an industry leader,” she said. “They have developed advanced technology in air quality control.”

Perez said that during the review process the Energy Commission will determine whether the project can be constructed and operated in compliance with the state Environmental Quality Act. He said the staff will also ask, “Are there ways of disposing of San Diego County waste preferable to burning it?”

He said that because of San Diego’s “pristine” air quality, Signal may be held to different standards than would apply to a plant in Los Angeles. “In San Diego, the question is do you want to pollute the air at all?” Perez said.