I’m a resident of Baltimore City’s Pigtown neighborhood and the Environmental Justice Organizer at Progressive Maryland. In my role, I have connected with over a thousand residents from environmental justice communities in South Baltimore, particularly in neighborhoods like Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, Westport, and Pigtown, all of which are near the WIN Waste incinerator.

The majority of the South Baltimore residents I spoke with while going door-to-door in these neighborhoods were oblivious to two things: (1) they were unaware that incineration has been erroneously recognized as a tier 1 renewable energy source in Maryland's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) since 2011 and (2) they did not know that their monthly electricity payments were financing the WIN Waste incinerator. What they did know was that they were suffering from a variety of health issues like asthma and cancer. This is because the incinerator releases dangerous toxins such as carbon dioxide, heavy metals, and methane that cause severe health implications, as well as a decrease in life expectancy.

In an interview with WBAL-TV, Mary Urban, Director of Communications, Community Engagement, and Marketing at WIN Waste Innovation, claimed that waste incineration is a form of renewable energy. However, this is an unsubstantiated claim given that  “waste-to-energy” incinerators release higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions throughout their life cycles than do green practices such as source reduction, reusing and recycling of the same materials.