Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González plans to introduce two competing resolutions Tuesday on the future of the Dickerson incinerator, setting up a Thanksgiving deadline vote that could put dozens of tractor-trailers on roads near the Shady Grove Transfer Station in Derwood.
One resolution would express the council's desire to refurbish the incinerator for long-term use. The other would close it and shift to long-haul trucking of waste to an out-of-county landfill, Bethesda Magazine reported. Both resolutions would support starting an in-county food scrap composting facility.
The incinerator, formally called the Resource Recovery Facility, has operated since 1995. County officials say it processes about 600,000 tons of waste per year, converting it into energy. Remaining ash goes to a landfill near Richmond, Virginia.
Closing the facility would end a rail-based system that moves compacted waste 14 miles from the Shady Grove Transfer Station to Dickerson. Thomas Hogan, president of the Waste-To-Energy Association, a national trade group, wrote in an opinion column published Oct. 26 that the closure would mean 100 tractor-trailers per day moving in and out of the transfer station, citing figures from Reworld, the facility's operator. Hogan's column also cited county cost estimates showing long-hauling could cost taxpayers as much as $1.4 billion more over 30 years compared to continued incinerator operation.
Hogan's trade group advocates for waste-to-energy facilities nationally.
In an email to council colleagues, Fani-González said decisions on ash disposal and advanced waste processing technology "will follow from the threshold decision" about whether to close the incinerator. She told Bethesda Today on Monday, Oct. 26, that the council will not hold public hearings on the competing resolutions.
Upcounty advocates and environmentalists have long pushed for the facility's closure, citing environmental concerns about incineration. The county extended its contract with the facility's operator through April 2031 in November 2024, but retained an option for early termination.
Several council members have held community meetings on the issue in recent weeks. Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles convened a town hall on waste management strategies Oct. 20 in Rockville. Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Sidney Katz hosted a community meeting in Gaithersburg in September.
The council meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville, with the resolutions expected Tuesday afternoon.
