Trash Plant To Shut Down

Tulsa residents invested millions of dollars into the waste-to-energy plant, but now it's closing down. The facility made the announcement Friday afternoon, right before they accepted the last load

Friday, July 20th 2007, 12:09 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa residents invested millions of dollars into the waste-to-energy plant, but now it's closing down. The facility made the announcement Friday afternoon, right before they accepted the last load of garbage. One man's trash is another man's treasure. News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca reports Tulsa's waste-to-energy plant is out of both.

"Tulsa basically decided to build the facility, decided the citizens would pay $180 million over the course of 20 years, and now, through the course of its decisions has decided the facility will no longer operate,â€ said consultant Mike Willis.

Plant officials say the burning process turned trash into ash and created steam energy in the process. The facility spent the last three weeks looking for other sources of garbage to stay in business, but in the end, plant operators say the city's decision to dump their contract forced them to close shop.

"We tested everything. Not just Oklahoma City, but everything in the region, to see if there was trash out there. And again, with $2.70 diesel costs, itâ€™s just cost prohibitive with transportation costs,â€ Willis said.

Tulsa's trash will no longer burn in the plant. Instead, it'll go to a landfill run by a different company. Officials with the trash to energy plant believe dumping trash in a landfill will pose a problem in the future.

"We believe that landfills will quickly fill up. The landfills argue that they have plenty of space. One of the main reasons they have space is because we've burned 340,000 tons a year for the last 20 years and kept it out of landfills,â€ said Willis.

The mayor's office says the rates of the landfill were cheaper, and entering another contract with the trash-to-energy plant was not a good financial decision for Tulsa residents.

The shutdown will leave 40 employees at the plant jobless. We also don't have word on what will become of the plant or the property.

Watch the video: Waste To Energy Plant To Close