COUNTY MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA: Firm on her choice of the now defunct Opa-locka Airport West site. Miramar, Doral residents vehemently oppose the $1.5 billion facility near homes. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

Miami – Under pressure to make a contentious decision to select a site to build a $1.5 billion trash and energy incinerator after the plant in Doral was shut down due to a fire last year, the Miami-Dade County Commission deferred its choice until November.

At the Sept. 17 meeting, commissioners were set to vote on County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s choice for the now defunct Opa-locka Airport West despite the threat of a lawsuit from Miramar city officials and protest from environmental advocates.

But commissioners wanted more time to study the issue before making a crucial decision that could impact Miramar, which is less than a mile away from the 416-acre site of the old airport.

Cava said the location is the best suitable location to burn more than 4,000 tons of trash a day and is environmentally friendly.

However, Miramar residents vehemently opposed the site over health concerns and an adverse effect to the drinking supply water from Everglades National Park.

The NAACP and environmental advocates, including the Sierra Club, showed solidarity with Miramar residents in rejecting the old Opa-locka Airport West site with harmful impact for one of the largest Caribbean communities in South Florida.

The site is located off North Okeechobee Road and north of NW 186 Street, about two and a half miles outside the Miami-Dade Urban Development Boundary (UDB) which serves as a buffer between development and the county’s wetlands and other sensitive areas.

During its search for a site to build a trash and energy incinerator, the county narrowed its choices to three locations – Doral, Miramar and Medley.

City officials in Doral, where the incinerator had been operating at the 158-acre plant for about 38 years before it was engulfed in flames, wanted it moved to another location because of the environmental impact to residents.

Doral even floated the idea to pay Miami-Dade at least $20M in taxes to relocate the trash incinerator. Two developers welcomed the incinerator and offered their respective

sites to the county.

The Lowell Dunn family pitched their 320-acre site in Medley, less than two miles from Doral, and a landowner submitted a proposal for the incinerator on a 65-acre tree farm which is located southwest of the old airport site.

The Medley site is deemed too expensive, however, and Cava said the tree farm is not big enough.

Though keeping it in Doral would be less costly to the county, Cava selected the Opa-locka West Airport site as the most viable option to the dismay of Miramar residents.

The issue pitted Doral and Miramar against each other at the meeting as the latter city residents said the mayor’s proposal for the old airport site is politically motivated.

They said she’s fostering the health of residents from Doral, a predominately Hispanic city, while ignoring the health concerns for Miramar, where residents can’t vote in county elections.

Doral residents said they have suffered enough for years, with the incinerator at 6990 NW 97th Ave. in their backyards, and now it’s someone else’s turn to house facility.

Doral Mayor Christi Frago said her city doesn’t want to burden any other community but the old Opa-locka Airport West site is a suitable location.

"It’s more than a mile away from residential areas and the best location for it," she said. "Doral has lived in the shadows for years with the incinerator."

More than 50 Miramar residents flocked to the commission chambers to urge county leaders to reject the mayor’s airport site proposal for health concerns.

Some residents said they suffer from problems such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam said building an incinerator at the old airport would ravage the quality of life for residents.

"Building one of the largest incinerators in our backyards poses a threat to our lives," he told county commissioners. "You’re about to make a big question but the question is will you make the right decision? Will you make a decision to put it in our backyard and threaten our health and hurt our property values?" Miramar Commissioner Yvette Colbourne said placing the incinerator near a neighborhood with kids and people with chronic illnesses is unacceptable.

"The environmental threat requires great consideration for all people," she said. "Burning 4,000 tons of trash of toxic chemicals in the air is not good for adults and kids."

State Rep. Robin Bartleman said she’s ready to take the fight to Tallahassee to block the incinerator at the airport site.

She said the state has spent billions of dollars for restoration projects for the Everglades and an incinerator could jeopardize projects that are already fully funded.

"I am shocked you are considering putting an incinerator next to the Everglades," said Bartleman." You need to reevaluate the mayor’s proposal and do the right thing."

Broward County U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz is lobbying the county to explore other sites other than the airport location to spare residents from health issues.

Raul Martinez, a staff member for the congresswoman speaking on her behalf, told commissioners placing the incinerator at the airport location is short of environmental injustice.

"I’m a firm believer that the incinerator shouldn’t move forward at Opa-locka West West," Martinez said.

Miramar resident Brett Howell said building the incinerator in Miramar could impact the health of his wife and daughter.

"Building an incinerator close to my house … my daughter and wife have respiratory issues," he said. "There is no such thing as a clean incinerator. I know the county has a problem with trash but this is not the right solution."

Doral resident Carlos Berita said he has lived a few blocks from the incinerator for most of his life and could smell the odor when trash is being burned or recycled. He said the emission triggers his asthma.

"As a Doral resident, the city’s opposition reflects prioritizing cleaner and healthier for our residents," Berita said. "We have a right to clean air."

Levine Cava maintains that modern incinerator technology will eliminate the kind of neighborhood complaints about odors that have fueled Doral’s opposition. 

She said when the incinerator in Doral burned down, it opened the door for challenges but also an opportunity to build a better facility.

She said she put in a tremendous amount of thought on the issue and worked tirelessly for 18 months before recommending the airport site. "It hasn’t been an easy decision for me personally," she said.

Cava said before she became an elected official she was, and still is, an environmental advocate fighting to preserve the wetlands and other sensitive areas.

"My career was protection for the environment and I take it very seriously," she said. "My priority is to make sure the site is safe for the people and environment."

Cava said her recommendation was based on analysis and research by experts that concluded the site is safe for people and the environment.

Cava said the advancement of odor and emission from the sites falls within the guidelines of the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) which is responsible for the sustainable management of natural resources and protection of the environment.

"We wouldn’t bring up this site if it wasn’t safe," she said.

County Commission Chair Oliver Gilbert III, whose district includes the old Opa-locka Airport West site, drove around the neighborhoods of the proposed locations and said Medley was the best option.

He said he supports the site in Medley because it has fewer environmental problems, but it’s too expensive for Miami-Dade.

He said he talked to landowner Lowell Dunn II about offering some flexibility. "The land in Medley solves a lot of problems for us," Gilbert said.

Dunn II told commissioners he can propose a dollar-to-dollar land swap with the county to place the incinerator in the town of Medley in return for developing the old airport to a rock mine.

Dunn II said his land in Medley is already zoned for the plant and he has approval and an agreement with the town officials to relocate the incinerator there.

"That’s the highest best use for the land … to trade it for our land," Dunn told county commissioners.

County Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, whose district covers Doral and Medley, said even if the item was deferred until November, he’s still supporting Levine Cava’s airport location.

He said the incinerator in Medley could impact residential areas in nearby Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens.

"The concern I have is Hialeah because the mayor at a meeting last night opposed it there," Bermudez said. "I can tell you as someone who lived close to the facility, Hialeah, Hialeah Gardens and other northwest Miami-Dade cities would be more impacted than Broward County residents. We need to make a decision and I agree and support the mayor’s conclusion for the airport site."

But moving it out of Doral could be costly to Miami-Dade taxpayers, which is why County Commissioner Daniel Cohen Higgins suggested city officials make a substantial financial contribution if they want it relocated.

"It will cost taxpayers more money to move it out and it has to be offset by the city to relocate the incinerator," Higgins said. "There is not a concrete offer that has been made to us on what Doral’s financial contribution looks like."

County Commissioner Keon Hardemon recommended deferring the proposal to give commissioners more time to review the proposal and concerns made by residents from Doral and Miramar.

"We should actually take the time and think about what is being proposed to us," Hardemon said.

"We heard about it in the news. We heard about it from residents. But let me ask you this: When did we have the opportunity to be educated on this issue? Some of us travel and some of us don’t. But rushing through this is something I don’t want to do. This is a serious decision we are about to make and I don’t think we make a decision today."