The Camden trash-to-steam plant is the fifth of 17 incinerators proposed in New Jersey to receive DEP approval. Two proposed facilities, in Pennsauken and West Deptford, are awaiting final approval from the state. The Pennsauken plant also would be located just across the river from Philadelphia, about four miles north of the Camden incinerator.
The DEP approved the project over the vocal objections of several environmental and neighborhood groups, which mobilized nearly 200 people to protest the project at a public hearing in May.
As a result of that meeting, the state decided to order stricter controls on smokestack emissions of heavy metal particles, said John Schmitt, the DEP official overseeing the project.
But for the most part, Purves said, the final design is the same as the one submitted 18 months ago by Foster-Wheeler Corp. of Livingston, N.J., which is building the incinerator. The plant, located on Morgan Boulevard in the middle-class Fairview section, will be capable of handling a total of 1,050 tons of trash a day.
"I'm not going to say I'm surprised. I know how these things work," said Sue Marks, a member of Camden's Citizens Against Trash-to-Steam group. "But this isn't going to stop us. Now, it looks like we'll have to go to court. This is certainly not a dead issue."
Her group has been trying for several months to schedule a public referendum on the issue, she said, but its petitions have been declared invalid twice by city officials. Opponents are concerned about the potential health risks from the plant, as well as the 350 trucks a day that would exit
from Interstate 676 onto Camden streets.
City officials are eager to see the plant constructed. As host city, Camden will receive $900,000 a year in payments from the plant once it begins burning trash, plus $787,000 in annual property taxes.
