Detroit Incinerator meeting this week, tax breaks to be discussed

A public meeting involving the much-maligned Detroit Incinerator is coming up on Thursday. The meeting will provide information to the public about $4 million in brown-field tax incentives. The waste to energy facility provides steam to about 150 buildings in Midtown and Downtown Detroit.

March 14, The Detroit Free Press:  The City of Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority will host public hearings Thursday on the Brownfield Tax Credit for the Detroit incinerator.

An informational session will be held at 5:30 p.m. The hearing on Detroit Thermal, which would purchase steam from the incinerator, begins at 6 p.m. and will be followed at 6:30 p.m. by a hearing on the incinerator, to be owned by Detroit Renewable Energy.

Built in the early 1980s amid much protest, the incinerator has been an issue of contention among environmentalists, civil rights activists and city budget watchers.It was built at a time when the costs of solid waste management and landfill fees were expected to explode, they haven't. Detroit would save money by sending its garbage to landfills instead of burning it.The incinerator was shut down temporarily in 2010.

The Incinerator is currently owned by Detroit Renewable Energy LLC which is owned by Detroit Thermal which is owned by the New England investment firm Atlas Holdings. The Incinerator is operated by the Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Authority (GDRRA), a quasi governmental board appointed by the City of Detroit. Simple enough.

There are recent accusations that GDRRA may owe Detroit $40 million.

The public is meeting is this Thursday at the College of Creative Studies. Will this hearing be another smoke screen or will it clear the air?