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Miramar watches and waits as Miami-Dade considers scrapping new incinerator plans

By Produced using AI, based on original work by Luisa Yanez
Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam and city residents previously helped convince Miami-Dade not to build the incinerator at the old Opa-Locka airport site. 
Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam and city residents previously helped convince Miami-Dade not to build the incinerator at the old Opa-Locka airport site.  Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com

Miami-Dade County may be backing away from plans to build a $2 billion waste-to-energy incinerator, a potential relief for Miramar residents worried about being downwind of the facility.

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signaled the retreat in a recent memo after Miami-Dade commissioners rejected a garbage rate increase needed to fund the project.

FULL STORY: Good news for Miramar: Miami-Dade might not get a new incinerator after all

Will a modern incinerator, as imagined in this rendering of a possible trash-burning facility, ever get built in Miami-Dade? County commissioners have yet to approve a final plan, and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is warning that higher trash rates are a must to consider the $2 billion project.
Will a modern incinerator, as imagined in this rendering of a possible trash-burning facility, ever get built in Miami-Dade? County commissioners have yet to approve a final plan, and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is warning that higher trash rates are a must to consider the $2 billion project. Miami-Dade County

Here are key takeaways:

  • Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the county “cannot responsibly continue spending ratepayer dollars and staff resources” on a Waste to Energy facility after commissioners rejected the rate increases needed to fund it.
  • The county has already spent $13 million on consultants for the project, according to the Miami Herald. The replacement plant would cost roughly $2 billion.
  • Miami-Dade commissioners this month voted down a proposed 2% increase in residential garbage rates for 2027, which would have raised annual costs for a typical household to about $716.
  • Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam and city residents previously helped convince Miami-Dade not to build the incinerator at the old Opa-Locka airport site. Environmental advocates have raised alarms over air pollution, odors, truck traffic and health concerns.
  • The memo does not formally kill the proposal. Commissioners could still revive talks on rate increases or pursue alternative financing. Miami-Dade has relied on shipping trash by truck and rail to landfills across Florida since the Doral incinerator burned down in 2023.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.

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