Niles union workers force delay on proposed waste-to-energy plant

NILES

City council yielded to angry union opposition Wednesday and voted 5-2 to table a resolution that would have authorized a feasibility study for development of a waste-to-energy center (WEC) in Niles. The resolution had been proposed as an emergency measure.

Nearly 40 members of AFSCME Local 506, the union representing waste treatment workers, packed council chambers to express fears that their jobs will be eliminated should the city go forward with construction of the plant.

A Canadian-based company, Hydra Renewable Resources, would pay for and conduct the seven-month study to determine the feasibility of building a facility to recycle waste water and convert it to energy that the company could sell. Its local representative, David DeChristofaro, former Niles and Trumbull County engineer, said Hydra would pay “hundreds of millions of dollars” to build the facility, along with a new waste treatment plant.

“More jobs will be created and no union jobs will be lost,” DeChristofaro said. He told council the city would be under no obligation to build the WEC after the study is completed. “You can simply walk away after the study,” he said.

The union wasn’t having any of it.

Read more about the dispute in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.