Victory!
A long-fought battle has drawn to a close, as Reworld Marion Incinerator in Brooks has announced its closure. The 38-year-old municipal waste incinerator not only burns county garbage, but also trucks in industrial and medical waste from around the Western U.S. and even Canada. In fact, the incinerator is the country’s fourth largest medical waste incinerator by volume due to a loophole in our law.
Sen. Deb Patterson, who has long pushed for its closure, said, “It was unclear what toxins were being emitted through incineration at this particular facility. Reworld’s planned shuttering of all their West Coast incinerators provides our community with an opportunity to find a more affordable, less toxic way to dispose of waste.”
Thank you, Sen. Patterson, Beyond Toxics, 350 Salem activist Jim Scheppke and others who have fought the good fight!