Board Should Reopen Talks on Trash Plant

In spite of a vote 16 months ago approving a trash-to-energy plant in San Marcos, North County garbage continues to be buried in a nearly full landfill at the rate of 1 1/2 tons per person per year.

Not a single piece of trash has been burned, because the controversial incinerator and recycling operation has yet to be built. Most of the work that has been done since September, 1987, has been performed by lawyers rather than construction crews. More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the plant, by landowners and the cities of Escondido, Encinitas and Carlsbad on environmental and procedural grounds.

The county, too, has had its doubts in recent times about the plant’s developer, Thermo Electron, which has had three partners in the $250-million project’s six-year history. And the county is justifiably leery of Thermo Electron’s desire to renegotiate the contract a second time.

This week the Board of Supervisors will be asked to formally reopen contract negotiations. Thermo Electron says the contract has become out of sync with the market and with tax laws in the three years since the last negotiation. Companies elsewhere, it says, are negotiating more favorable contracts with government agencies. Thermo Electron says it needs a contract more in line with the “industry standard” to show to financiers.

We supported the plant’s concept in 1987 and still believe that a combination of recycling and incineration to produce electricity and reduce the amount of waste that must be buried in landfills makes sense, as long as there are sufficient environmental safeguards. As the history of this project has aptly shown, it is extremely difficult to find a publicly acceptable place to dispose of trash. A vote of acceptance by San Marcos residents in 1987 may be as close as the county will ever get.

But we were concerned then and still are about repeated renegotiations of the contract. And we share the frustration of opponents about the lack of public information on Thermo Electron’s proposals.

The county should not feel compelled to grant concessions simply because plant developers elsewhere have negotiated more favorable contracts. But the time consumed by litigation may have produced valid reasons for some changes in the contract. For instance, the company’s request that it be able to increase fees to pay for future environmental requirements is neither unprecedented nor unwarranted.

With more than six years invested in planning, the trash-to-energy plant still appears to be the best available option for stretching the quickly dwindling landfill capacity. Starting over would be costly in terms of time. The San Marcos landfill is expected to be full in two years, and a new landfill is at least three to four years away. What’s more, some financial benefits could not be duplicated by starting over with a new firm.

So, we would encourage the board to reopen negotiations to see if a mutually beneficial contract can be agreed upon. But the board should reserve final judgment until it is sure that the project is financially sound.

We also hope the county will find a way to open the contract proposal to public scrutiny. Cynicism and opposition are just exacerbated by keeping the proposal secret.