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Environmental concerns, Doral's objections, Trump's 'illegal' involvement - what now for Miami-Dade's new incinerator?

Miami-Dade plans to build the largest incinerator in the country that will process 4,000 tons of trash a day.
Miami-Dade plans to build the largest incinerator in the country that will process 4,000 tons of trash a day.

A Doral councilman and a Miami-Dade County commission chairman squared off on WLRN’s South Florida Roundup over the ongoing and contentious debate over where to build a new trash incinerator in Miami-Dade County: Doral or some other county location.

First, some background.

It’s up to the 13-member Miami-Dade Commission to make a decision. Last Tuesday, the commission delayed a vote — again — until February.

Late last month, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava recommended the new incinerator be constructed in Doral, noting in a memo that relocating it outside the city would cost taxpayers more than $800 million over 20 years.

The search for a new trash facility began after the previous incinerator in Doral burned down in February 2023. That incinerator handled half of the county’s trash. The new incinerator will cost an estimated $1.5 billion to build and is projected to process up to 4,000 tons of trash daily, making it the nation's largest.

Adding to the tense negotiations: Doral Mayor Christina Fraga called on the Trump organization, which owns National Doral Golf Club, to intervene. And Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, whose district includes Doral, met with President-elect Donald Trump’s son, Eric, to talk about the issue. Levine Cava also spoke to Eric Trump.

READ MORE: Miramar applauds Miami-Dade mayor’s recommendation to build new incinerator in Doral

On WLRN’s South Florida Roundup on Friday, Doral Councilman Rafael Pineyro says Doral has changed dramatically in the nearly four decades since a trash incinerator was first built in his city, arguing that building such a facility now in the same location is environmentally dangerous to the lives of thousands of homes and residents.

“You're talking about a site that is the closest to a community, 500 feet away from a residential area and to the schools,” Pineyro told WLRN.

He said Trump and the Trump Organization have every right to air their opinion because they are like any other business owner in the city. He also thinks Trump and his incoming administration can be “positive” for the city and county because any final approval of a trash incinerator must go through federal permitting authorization and could get federal financial assistance.

Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert III, whose main concern is the cost of a new incinerator for county taxpayers, said Doral officials are wrong to think the Trump family will intervene by pushing federal grants or the federal permitting process for a future incinerator.

“What [Doral] is suggesting either way, whether it's for the positive or for the negative, it's patently illegal,” Gilbert told WLRN. “They're suggesting that either the president can make it easier for us or give us grants to move something out of Doral because of his private business interest. That would be illegal. Or, in the alternative, that he could make it harder. That too would be illegal. So the president's not going to do anything like that.”

He also said the commission should not be kicking the decision down the road and chided Levine Cava for wanting to spend more time exploring alternatives, including not building an incinerator at all and relying on existing landfills per the suggestion of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.

“If the mayor says she wants to look at it again because of the Sierra club, I take her word,” said Gilbert. “My question to the administration is still the same question: What are you going to do in the next three months that you didn't do in the prior 13 months? There's no new science on that.”

Miami-Dade officials were weighing several options, including the former Opa-locka Airport West site near the Broward County line and Miramar — a site Miramar vehemently opposes.

South Florida Roundup host Tim Padgett's interview with Pineyro and Gilbert has been edited for brevity and clarity. 

PADGETT:  I want to start by just asking you why Doral — Miami-Dade’s fastest-growing city, I should point out — is so adamantly against having a replacement incinerator built there when it already had the old one there for so many years — and without what seemed to the rest of us, anyway, to be significant community objections. Can you explain to us Doral’s mindset on this?

Pineyro: The Doral site is the smallest of the proposed locations, so that certainly raised a lot of concerns about its capacity to handle the future when we speak about the waste in Miami-Dade County as [it] grows. The Covanta facility that was located here in the city of Doral was actually built 39 years ago, way before the city was incorporated as a municipality 21 years ago. Obviously there is no way that you can compare the city that we have now with the piece of land that was 38 years ago. Also, you're talking about the site that is the closest to a community. You're talking about 500 feet away from a residential area and to the schools.

Councilman Pineyro, what's your assessment then regarding how much influence President elect Trump and his Doral Golf Resort have had in this dispute? Miami-Dade Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, whose district includes Doral, said he had discussions with Trump's son, Eric, about this. How much clout does Trump bring to the table, especially now that he's going to be president again?

Pineyro: Remember whatever decisions the county commissioners have made about a new site, it has to go through a whole permitting process at the federal level too. We all know that starting in January, we have a new administration. Certainly, the fact that we have [President-elect Donald Trump] now, who has been a business owner here in Doral for over 10 years, it really helps. It can arrange maybe how the federal government can help with some type of grants or other types of options that can be brought to the table.

Commissioner, can you first just explain to our listeners why the Miami-Dade Commission yet again postponed action on a new garbage incinerator — this time until February. 

Gilbert: The mayor made a recommendation. I wasn't particularly in favor of a deferral. But, the stated policy of the county commission is this: if we're going to move the waste-energy facility out of Doral, we need a contribution from Doral to help offset the cost for the ratepayers. The councilman said something that was very true. He said, this facility was built [39] years ago when Doral wasn't even a city. He's right. There were no houses there. There was nothing there. They built houses around a site and it cost us more to change the site.

Mayor Levine Cava has said she wants to take more time here not because President-elect Trump and his Doral golf resort are suddenly the new chess piece in this incinerator contest, but because the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club has now voiced objections. What’s your honest assessment regarding how much of this new delay is Trump’s influence and how much of it is the Sierra Club?

Gilbert: I think it is conspicuous that it's happening around the same time commissioner Bermudez met with Eric Trump. If the mayor says she wants to look at it again because of the Sierra club, I take her word. My question to the administration is still the same question. What are you going to do in the next three months that you didn't do in the prior 13 months? There's no new science on that. We all do understand that there is politics involved, but let me add something else. What [Doral] is suggesting either way, whether it's for the positive or for the negative, it's patently illegal. They're suggesting that either the president can make it easier for us or give us grants to move something out of Doral because of his private business interest. That would be illegal. Or, in the alternative, that he could make it harder. That too would be illegal. So the president's not going to do anything like that.

You can listen to the full conversation above or wherever you get your podcasts by searching: The South Florida Roundup.

Jimena Romero is WLRN’s News and Public Affairs Producer. Besides producing The South Florida Roundup, she is also a general assignment reporter.
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