An article appeared in the Daily Sitka Sentinel about Dale Borgford’s proposal to turn Wrangell’s former 6-Mile sawmill site into the trash-burning capital of Southeast Alaska.
I was sent a letter that Dr. Gregory Duncan and Dr. Anne Duncan wrote to the Wrangell Borough Assembly and Borough Manager Mason Villarma. They raise extremely valid concerns about the extreme hazards and drawbacks of this proposal.
Sitka’s municipal trash incinerator is now closed. If something like this was ever proposed again, I would spend every last dime I had to combat it.
The original idea made sense. A trash incinerator would burn all of Sitka’s garbage waste and sludge from our wastewater treatment plant. This would save spending millions on a new landfill or shipping waste off the island. It would provide free steam heat for the Sheldon Jackson College campus, which would really help the cash-strapped institution.
We were promised by the Sitka Public Works Department that if there were any issues with the plant, they would be corrected or the plant would be shut down.
Local contractors did most of the construction. The company that installed the incinerator was named SynTech. Workers actually came from France to set up the plant. Right off the bat the workers were heard to say they were extremely surprised this plant was being set up anywhere close to a community.
I can tell you that the entire operation was a nightmare. The constant smells were sickening. No matter how many times we called and voiced complaints, it all fell on deaf ears. The wet garbage never burned hot enough, so we had to endure daily air pollution that was even worse at night.
I recall listening to people bragging about putting everything under the sun including very hazardous materials in their garbage cans as they knew it was going to be burned. This went on for years.
Wrangell is a wonderful community. You would be very wise to find a much better and healthier use of the former mill site.
— Mike Trainor, Sitka
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