Crash course in trash

The building of a trash incinerator or what some call a ‘‘waste-to-energy facility,” could be the answer.

‘‘The writing is on the wall here,” said Michael Marschner, director of the county’s Utilities and Solid Waste Management. ‘‘We have to start looking at this technology. Is it controversial? Yes. But the reality is, when you look at the big picture it may be the best option.”

A waste-to-energy plant burns trash then uses it as fuel to generate electricity that can be sold to an electric utility, such as Allegheny Power.

Marschner said building such a facility would eliminate the need to daily transport trash from the Reichs Ford Road landfill to Virginia.

The county transports its 800 tons of trash generated daily to landfills in Virginia. Marschner is concerned that the 40 trucks that transport trash create an environmental hazard.

In 2005, the previous board of commissioners received a study by consultant R.W. Beck recommending the building of an incinerator. Last year, the board agreed to look at the option after visiting the Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility, an incinerator in Dickerson.

In April, Marschner will present commissioners with proposals detailing the costs to build an incinerator in Frederick County.

Commissioner Kai J. Hagen (D), new to the board, questioned Marschner about why they had only one consultant study the county’s waste issues.

‘‘People questioned the Beck report and whether other people would have come to different conclusions,” Hagen said. ‘‘Clearly we didn’t get three different reports from three different independent groups.”

Marschner defended the county’s decision.

‘‘That’s not something government does,” he said. ‘‘R.W. Beck is a professional consultant. They do a fair amount of this kind of work nationally ... I would frankly challenge anyone challenging a bias in the Beck report ... I think there is no bias.”

R.W. Beck is the chief consultant with the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority

Robin Davidov, with the authority, agreed with Marschner and the report’s findings.

‘‘... Many communities are looking at waste-to-energy now,” she said. ‘‘We’re looking at three — you, Carroll [County] and Harford [County] ... A lot of different communities are either looking at building a waste-to-energy or expanding their waste-to-energy.”

One option on the table for Frederick is to build a joint plant with Carroll County.

Residents concerned about the building of an incinerator in the county also weighed in on the issue. Roland Clarke of Adamstown said the incinerator should be built on high ground, because of dangerous gas that comes through the smokestacks.

Marschner explained that a waste-to-energy facility is not like the incinerators used to burn trash before the 1970s. Most of the dangerous gases are now destroyed before flowing through the chimney stacks.

‘‘They are much more highly controlled,” he said.