Miramar mayor to Florida lawmakers: ‘We’re threatened’ by incinerator plans
Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam spoke in front of Florida lawmakers to vouch for a bill that could stop a trash incinerator from being built near homes in the city.
In January, Messam publicly renewed his commitment to stopping the incinerator after a successful fight against the Miami-Dade County commission in 2025.
In his remarks to legislators last week, he emphasized Miramar’s lack of a voice while a “neighboring county” makes the decisions.
“We feel that it is a common sense bill that preserves the entitlements of existing facilities to process waste while protecting communities like the city of Miramar,” he said in his remarks, which were posted to the city’s Instagram.
“We’re threatened by the development of new technology. … We don’t even have a voice,” he continued, “We stand victim of decisions made by other policymakers that will detrimentally harm our community.”
House Bill 1089 filed by State Rep. Robin Bartleman, who represents the city, would restrict where waste incinerators and similar facilities can be built, highlighting environmentally sensitive areas such as the Florida Everglades.
The bill would restrict Miami-Dade’s incinerator deliberations, including the option of placing a facility at an industrial property near Okeechobee Road and Florida’s Turnpike, associated with a proposal from Florida Power & Light and FCC.
While Messam said he has seen comments that there will be no smoke coming from the incinerator, he added, “There are no proven studies that show that incinerations completely eradicates all traces of PFAs and the harsh dioxins.”
PFAs are chemicals found in everyday items such as food packaging that are hard to ultimately dispose of due to their persistence in the environment and the human body.
Dioxins are highly toxic environmental pollutants. After soil testing around the “Old Smokey” incinerator in Coconut Grove revealed dioxins, residents complained of health issues more than 50 years after it was shut down.
“We understand that our metro areas must have efficient waste recovery to dispose of waste, but it should not be borne on the backs of innocent communities that don’t have a voice,” Messam said.
