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Tension brews in Florida over proposal for nation's largest waste incinerator: 'Affecting our health and well-being'

"Environmental injustice and racial injustice."

"Environmental injustice and racial injustice."

Photo Credit: City of Miramar

Tension is growing in Florida as officials and residents spar over where to put a proposed waste incinerator, which could be the country's largest ever. 

What's happening?

Miami-Dade County is at battle over where to build a new waste incinerator capable of burning up to 4,000 tons of garbage a day, KFF Health News reported. The problem? No one wants it in their backyard, and all four sites considered at a planning meeting in September were in or near what the publication calls "some of the region's most diverse communities."

Protesters overflowed at the meeting, worried about the health and economic impacts of having a trash incinerator nearby. The rift underscores the ongoing challenge of meeting the needs of the community — the county produces nearly double the national average per person of garbage, with tourism contributing to the problem — while addressing public health concerns. 

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At the September meeting, Elisha Moultrie, a resident and committee leader with the Miami-Dade NAACP, spoke directly to county commissioners, saying, "Historically, communities of color have suffered the impacts of toxic plants near our cities, affecting our health and well-being." She called this an "environmental injustice and racial injustice," per KFF.

Why is this important?

The battle brewing in Miami-Dade County is one example of a larger trend afflicting communities across the United States. For example, KFF explained that a number of studies have shown that neighborhoods with more low-income and minority residents tend to have higher exposure to cancer-causing pollutants. 

Meanwhile, one study on babies in "Cancer Alley," an 85-mile stretch of high industry in Louisiana where people of color are disproportionately impacted, found that communities with the highest levels of toxic air pollution saw preterm births reach 25.3%, which is more than twice the national average. Low birth weights were recorded at 27% compared with the U.S. average of 8.5%.

What's being done to protect vulnerable communities?

Residents in Miami-Dade aren't the only ones advocating for the health of their communities. For example, a 70-year-old grandma in Louisiana founded a grassroots group to fight the construction of several chemical plants near her home. Plus, two sisters in one parish in Cancer Alley won a court decision that stopped the construction of a new grain export facility that would have put a number of historical and cultural sites in harm's way. 

Amy Stuart, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of South Florida's College of Public Health, told KFF that the solution is not to build the county's incinerator in a white neighborhood. Instead, we need to reduce waste by consuming less, recycling and repurposing more, and composting refuse, she said.

To that end, a number of companies are helping people reduce their waste through circular programs that keep products out of waste facilities. For instance, you can trade in your Levi's denim pieces for store credit ranging from $5 to $30. Meanwhile, Ikea will buy back assembled furniture and give you store credit in return, and Best Buy will give you store credit for trading in your devices.

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