Miramar approves $240K to lawyer up in Miami-Dade incinerator fight — just in case
Miramar’s fight over the location of Miami-Dade’s proposed $1.5 billion trash incinerator appeared to be over, but despite assurances, city leaders are not convinced the waste-to-energy facility will not end up being built upwind from their city — impacting the quality of life for residents.
At the Monday, Nov. 17 meeting, the commission unanimously approved Mayor Wayne M. Messam’s recommendation in a 4-0 vote to continue retaining an outside legal firm to prevent Miami-Dade from building the country’s largest waste-to-energy facility near Miramar.
The measure approved by the commission will cost $240,000.
To prepare for any unexpected change of heart from Miami-Dade, the city will continue to contract the Coral Gables-based Goldstein Environmental Law Firm to represent Miramar at both the state and local levels on incinerator issues.
“This law firm has provided exceptional environmental and legal representation as the city of Miramar continues its fight to prevent the construction of a waste incinerator next door to our community,” Messam told the Miramar News on Monday.
The firm has represented the city up to now.
The mayor and residents have bitterly opposed the Miami-Dade plan to build the facility at the former Opa-locka Airport West property in North Miami-Dade, near the Miramar city line. They attended Miami-Dade commission meetings to say the incinerator posed unacceptable environmental and public-health risks for Miramar residents and the Florida Everglades.
“The city is exhausting every viable option at both the local and state level to protect our residents, our clean water and our clean air,” Messam said.
Then last month, the fight appeared to be over when Miami-Dade commissioners said they would not build at the old Opa-locka Airport site. But Messam has repeatedly warned residents that the threat is not over until Miami-Dade committs to a permanent alternative. They will not do so until 2026.
The hefty legal contract marks the latest escalation in the two-year battle.
Messam said the firm will continue to be tasked with challenging any new attempt by Miami-Dade or the state to pursue a waste-to-energy facility at Airport West or any other site that could send emissions toward Miramar’s neighborhoods.
By hiring outside legal help, the city is delegating the job of fully fighting the incinerator to the firm, not the city attorney’s office.
The $240,000 approved by the commission includes $65,000 to hire a lobbyist to assist with pursuing supportive legislation in Tallahassee. The money comes from the $300,000 allocated by the city for next year’s “advocacy” costs.
For Messam, keeping the trash incinerator away has become one of his signature issues. Messam led the city’s earlier opposition campaign and celebrated when the Miami-Dade commission voted in July 2025 to remove Airport West from its list of preferred locations.
This story was originally published November 17, 2025 at 3:09 PM.
