The Marion County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to give the Brooks garbage incinerator until June 30, 2025 to finish burning off leftover waste as the company that runs the incinerator plans to stop accepting the county’s garbage at the end of December.  The commissioners also approved a 2.5% garbage collection and disposal rate increase on Wednesday. The increases included a 70% hike on medical waste which is currently sent to the incinerator. Commissioners blamed that increase on the incinerator’s closure. Residential rate increases will only affect residents living in unincorporated Marion County, according to Brian May, the county’s environmental service division manager.  Urban households, like those in unincorporated east Salem, currently pay about $30 per month for a 35-gallon roll cart. With the rate increase, they’d pay about 78 cents more per month, said county spokeswoman Erin Burt. Commissioners amended the county’s contract with Reworld Marion Inc., formerly known as Covanta, which allows the incinerator to operate on a limited basis until it burns off the rest of the waste on site.  The New Jersey-based company notified Marion County in October that it will stop accepting waste at the incinerator at 4850 Brooklake Road N.E. on Dec. 31.  Brooks incinerator closure prompts Saturday discussion about the future of trash in Salem The company told the Department of Environmental Quality in late November that it will continue burning off existing garbage and waste in accordance with the agency’s regulations, until it is all gone. What happens after that is unclear.  “At the completion of waste processing, the Facility will temporarily suspend operations pending further negotiations with Marion County,” the incinerator’s manager, Steve Nipp, wrote in a letter to the department on November 21. He said after all waste is burned, Reworld may sell or transfer the facility to another party, which could include Marion County, or shut it down. Nipp said the company is unable to say how long it would take to transfer the incinerator to a third party or to permanently close it down.  “For either option, Reworld will complete actions in accordance with applicable regulations,” Nipp said.  County commissioners blamed the incinerator’s closure on a state law passed last year that requires continuous emissions monitoring of garbage incinerators in Oregon. The bill, SB 488, was championed by state Sen. Deb Patterson, a Salem Democrat. County Commissioner Colm Willis said his constituents have expressed broad support for the garbage incinerator and said the stricter law does not consider the will of the people.  “That’s the frustration here. This is not the opinion of three commissioners, that a waste-energy facility in Marion County is a great thing. That’s the opinion of the vast majority of people in Marion County,” Willis said. “The fact that some sort of ideological crusaders in Salem in the state capital can thwart the will of the majority of the people in Marion County is super frustrating.”  Patterson told Salem Reporter she has gotten a totally different message from her constituents who are concerned about the environmental impacts of the incinerator. She also said she does not believe Reworld Marion’s departure had anything to do with the stricter requirements.  “They’ve closed all of their other West Coast plants. I don’t think I had any influence on that. And frankly, they haven’t complied with Senate Bill 488 in the first place so I don’t see how that could have made a difference,” Patterson said. “We need to work together and find cheaper and cleaner ways to dispose of our waste and I am committed to do that. If they (Marion County commissioners) would like to reach out to work with me I am happy to do that…We have to do what is right for our community.”  County Commissioner Danielle Bethell said the question of how the county will deal with its solid waste post-incinerator is one of the most frustrating topics she has dealt with as a commissioner. She blamed Democrats in the legislature. “Marion County has been unique in many ways. And for almost my entire lifetime we have been the most unique county in the state for having a waste-to-energy facility,” Bethell said. “There’s a lot of unfortunate opinions that are not based on fact in our community that has driven Senator Patterson — I’m not afraid to say her name, her name is on the bill — to produce the legislation that she produced that put the final stake in the ground for Covanta, now Reworld, to be a business that can no longer operate in Oregon.”  Bethell said the incinerator kept costs low for residents and prevented waste from going to a landfill.  After Reworld stops accepting the county’s garbage at the end of the month, waste will be sent to the Marion Resource Recovery Facility, a recycling center at 3690 Brooklake Road N.E. It will then be hauled to Coffin Butte Landfill outside Corvallis. Most waste from Polk County, including West Salem, currently goes to that landfill.  Salem residents in Polk County have typically paid lower garbage rates than those in Marion County. Bethell said she hopes Patterson will come to the table with the county commissioners as next steps on dealing with waste are hammered out.  “What would have been ideal for somebody who is elected by the residents of this community would have been for her and her colleagues to want to have a thoughtful conversation and a partnership to produce a solid waste system that could benefit everybody,” Bethell said. “The partisanship in this space is ridiculous and I find it to be so short-sighted.” Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Marion County Commissioners extend contract for Brooks incinerator through June, increase garbage rates appeared first on Salem Reporter.