Stanislaus County accused of secrecy, lack of accessibility on waste-burning plant
Environmental advocates accused Stanislaus County leaders Tuesday of a lack of transparency on the garbage-burning plant and not providing reports in Spanish on services for farmworkers.
“We need to stop burning waste,” said Bianca Lopez, president of the Valley Improvement Projects environmental group.
The future of the waste-burning plant outside Crows Landing came into serious doubt when Covanta Energy informed the county in December that the incinerator was losing money every month and can’t continue to operate without a significant tipping-fee increase and delivery of more special waste.
The county and Modesto have a long-term contract with Covanta until 2027 to send tons of household and commercial waste to the plant, which also burns trash from other cities in the county.
Lopez said at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that she had to file a records request to learn the county and city sent a Feb. 29 response to Covanta, asking for more time to evaluate options. The February letter said the county and city would explore strategies, consult with regulatory agencies and assess the feasibility of different scenarios before negotiating with Covanta.
County officials have not said what waste disposal options are being evaluated. The Stanislaus plant is the only waste-to-energy incinerator in California after state regulations led to the closure of the Covanta plant in Long Beach in February.
“Covanta is telling you they are no longer economically viable,” Lopez said. “They can no longer do business in California.”
Valley Improvement Projects has advocated for a zero waste approach for greatly reducing wastes taken to landfills.
County supervisors did not discuss the status of the Covanta plant because it was not on the agenda. The issue hasn’t been on the agendas of county committees concerned with waste-to-energy or solid waste. The state’s Brown Act requires local government to discuss the public’s business at public meetings.
The county also was taken to task again for not translating reports on workforce programs into Spanish. Supervisor Channce Condit had asked for a report on Farmworker Resource Center services managed by Central Valley Opportunity Center.
Condit pulled from Tuesday’s consent agenda the report on $5.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for navigation and case management services. He praised the efforts for “fantastic” numbers on job training and legal services for farmworkers.
The report said hundreds of farmworkers had received a total of 1,000 services in the last three months of 2023, including employment assistance, education, financial help, health and human services and emergency support. A single farmworker may receive multiple services, the report said.
Miguel Dinoso, a community activist, said the report was not provided in Spanish in addition to English. “Every time you have a report on the (American Rescue Plan Act), I am going to come here” and talk about translation requirements, Dinoso said.
Dinoso, who has challenged the county before on the issue, said three complaints have been filed with a federal civil rights agency.
