The Baltimore Incinerator – How Environmental Pollution Harms Low-income Communities

Towering over the south side of Baltimore and adjacent to the intersection of Interstate 95 and 395, the infamous Wheelabrator Baltimore incinerator has sparked controversy and environmental protests in the city for decades. The Wheelabrator is a power plant that burns food waste and trash into electricity. While WIN Waste Innovations, the operating company, boasts of the incinerator’s “Tier 1 renewable energy” and supplying of electricity to over “255 business,” the incinerator has not always been and still isn’t eco-friendly.

Built in 1985, the Wheelabrator, formerly known as BRESCO, is the 10th largest trash incinerator in the country, and accounts for 36% of all air emission from Baltimore City Industry. Emitting >700,000 tons of CO₂ in 2017 and dangerous levels of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, lead and mercury, the incinerator not only contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and worsening climate change, but it also causes dangerous air pollution in surrounding areas. Keisha Allen, a South Baltimore neighborhood association president stated, “Damn everyone here has a breathing issue. The air is different. It’s a silent killer.”

The air pollution increases the risk of asthma, respiratory and heart diseases, and even lung cancer by 1.4 times. What’s worse though is that the incinerator is surrounded by predominantly black, low-income neighborhoods, such as Westport. This only exacerbates the already distinct racial and wealth divides in the city. Communities surrounding the incinerator have life expectancies of less than 70. Just to the north, in the wealthy Roland Park district, that number shoots up to 84.

Another detriment of the incinerator is that it emits destructive amounts of mercury – on average about 72 pounds per year. Mercury is known to pollute marine ecosystems, and even small amounts can make fish inedible for humans. In fact, a recent study estimated that the Baltimore incinerator’s mercury emissions can keep over 32,000 20-acre lakes so contaminated that the fish are not safe to eat. Residing adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay, we can only imagine the harmful effects Wheelabrator has on our local fisheries!

So if the Wheelabrator is so harmful, why has nothing been successful in shutting it down? This is for several reasons. Baltimore city operates in a way where almost all of the trash, whether from homes or businesses, ends up at the incinerator, so shutting the incinerator would require

enormous systemic change. Additionally, Maryland law lists energy derived from waste as “Tier 1 renewable energy,” even though it clearly harms the environment. This has allowed the incinerator to earn clean energy credits and get away with government restrictions. Although numerous activists, such as Shashawnda Campell, have spoken out and organized protests to shut down the Wheelabrator, a recently signed contract between Mayor Brandon Scott and the company means it will remain in operation for the next 10 years.

Despite this frustrating news, there are numerous ways in which communities in Baltimore, and the greater Maryland region, can reduce the incinerator’s greenhouse gas emissions. As Campbell once said, we can “starve the beast” by minimizing our overall waste through recycling and composting (To learn more about these practices, check out our Educational Resources page!).

At the Gilman School in Baltimore, I am the vice president of the Sunrise Environmental Club, which has taken numerous steps to reduce food waste in our cafeteria. In March, we started an initiative that rewards certain grades if they reduced their food waste by 20, 30, 50% etc. Our club also gave assembly presentations to elementary and middle schoolers, raising their awareness of the Baltimore incinerator’s impact. Through similar initiatives and a combination of community and policy advocacy, we can find ways to reduce our air pollution, carbon footprint, and make Maryland cleaner as a whole. But ultimately, it all starts with our daily habits…

Works Cited

Aning, Agya K. “Baltimore Continues Incinerating Trash, despite Opposition from Its New Mayor and City Council.” Inside Climate News, 19 Feb. 2021, insideclimatenews.org/news/19022021/baltimore-continues-incinerating-trash-despite-opposition-from-its-new-mayor-and-city-council/.

“BRESNO Waste Incinerator.” Clean Air Baltimore, www.cleanairbmore.org/incineration/wheelabrator/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.

Jacobs, Harrison. “Inside the Fight to Shut down Baltimore’s Pollution-Spewing Trash Incinerator.” Vice News, 25 Sept. 2020, www.vice.com/en/article/5dzxdb/inside-the-fight-to-shut-down-baltimores-pollution-spewing-trash-incinerator.

Melser, Lowell. “Baltimore’s Wheelabrator Is Getting an Upgrade to Lower Emissions.” WBAL TV, 10 Mar. 2022, www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-wheelabrator-upgrade-to-lower-emissions/39398045#.

Reutter, Mark. “Pollution from the BRESCO Incinerator ‘Likely to Continue’ through Mid-2030s, Planning Report Says.” BaltimoreBrew, 27 Apr. 2023, www.baltimorebrew.com/2023/04/27/pollution-from-the-bresco-incinerator-likely-to-continue-through-mid-2030s-city-report-says/.

“Wheelabrator Baltimore.” WIN Waste Innovations, www.wtienergy.com/plant-locations/energy-from-waste/wheelabrator-baltimore. Accessed 16 Sept. 2023.