Power plant would create energy from waste

SMITH — A company looking to make clean energy from trash has been given the green light from township trustees.

Valas Winters, a Smith Township trustee, said he and the two other trustees, David Mannion and Jerry Ritchie, along with the majority of residents who attended the trustees’ meeting earlier this week, approved of plans to develop a $250 million power plant near the site of TransLoad America’s Central Waste landfill, at 12003 Oyster Road.

The plant, a project by Jefferson Renewable Energy, would bring in waste from a New Jersey landfill to the township. Once there, the waste will be sorted to remove recyclable metals and materials unfit for incineration. Then the selected waste will be incinerated to create approximately 65 megawatts of electricity a day — enough to power 50,000 homes.

About 1.5 of those megawatts would run the plant. The rest of the power would be redirected to other areas using the township’s power grid.

Winters lauded the idea as “a benefit to the township,” as it would provide more than 200 construction jobs and 60 full-time positions for its operation. Additional benefits include revenue from taxes and “tipping” fees, he said.

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com