Shutting down incinerator is ludicrous

To the Editor,

Thank you for publishing the letter from Rich Ailes about the Covanta incinerator in Chester in the June 4 issue of The Swarthmorean. I found it refreshing to read a sane and cogent presentation of facts instead of innuendo and outright fantasy. The proposal to shut down the incinerator should be considered ludicrous. Such a stupid action won’t make the trash problem magically go away. It will make it unimaginably worse. 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration website, trash-to-steam plants reduce the volume of solid waste by 87%. Just imagine 87% more trash that has to be handled, 87% more trucks on the streets of Chester and the Blue Route, and filling up the landfill 87% faster. Unfortunately, the incinerator is the only workable solution to handing our trash for the foreseeable future. The idea of somehow achieving zero waste is utter fantasy. It is about as realistic as loading all the trash onto rocket ships and dumping it in space.

Sincerely,

Rich Conti
Rutledge