Letter to the editor: Energy from trash

By Don Neuhaus, Tulsa - 11/7/2009


It is certainly gratifying to note that our city has finally realized the benefits of trash to energy and the 100 percent recycling process that it provides.

Approximately two years ago the Tulsa World published my letter entitled "Revisiting trash to energy." Lots of debate has taken place over the last two years including the experiment with single weekly service with trash containers that most senior citizens could not physically handle, and also proposed to lower our rates by only 6.8 percent while reducing service by 50 percent.

The leaders of our great city in the late 1970s and early 1980s had an excellent vision for the disposal of our trash. They were able to fund and build the trash-to-energy facility, which served our community very well for more than two decades. Through that process we eliminated the dumping of our trash in a landfill and avoided a mess for future generations to deal with, and instead generated energy, which was sold to offset much of the costs of running the facility. What a great example of 100 percent recycling and a win-win situation, which is an obvious solution for all of us.

Let's all hope that our trash problem is now solved for many years to come. Thank you, Tulsa, for resolving the issues that now allow us to again reap the benefits of trash to energy.



Letters to the editor are encouraged. Each letter must be signed and include an address and a telephone number where the writer can be reached during business hours. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. Letters should be a maximum of 250 words to be considered for publication and may be edited for length, style and grammar. Letters should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, Tulsa World, Box 1770, Tulsa, Okla., 74102, or send e-mail to letters@tulsaworld.com.


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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Hijinx, (11/7/2009 7:58:15 AM)
Now all they need to do is hook up a steam turbine generator or two to power downtown for next to free.

IrishQuaker, Tulsa (11/7/2009 9:41:39 PM)
let's hope we don't have the problem with dioxin that we had when Ogden Martin was running the plant and DEQ graded it 1400 times over the legal limit for dioxin. Burning plastic and imported military and industrial waste--which we did before--cannot be a good idea.

senor notas, Tulsa (11/7/2009 1:02:36 PM)
One other advantage of the trash to energy plant is, when all the trash is burned it lessens the possibility of I.D. theft vs. people going through a landfill looking for stuff.



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