Marion County, Ore., to Vote on WTE Contract with Covanta

SEATTLE (Waste 360): Marion County, Ore., Commissioners are expected to vote on a one-year contract proposal with Covanta that would keep the company’s waste-to-energy (WTE) facility from closing.

The vote, according to the Statesman Journal, comes two days before the county’s contract with Covanta will expire. The report also notes that contract negotiations stalled this summer after Oregon’s legislature failed to pass a bill, requested by Covanta, that would have designated trash incineration as renewable energy.

Senate Bill 451 would have allowed the incinerator to be certified under Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires 50 percent of the electricity residents use to come from renewable energy sources by 2040.

The one-year extension would allow the WTE plant to continue operating while Covanta tries to get a similar bill passed in the February 2020 legislative session.

Courtesy: https://www.waste360.com