Essay Contest Targets WTE Plant

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), Washington, is conducting an essay contest in Frederick County, Md., based on the following question: “Pro or Con: Is a 1,500-tons per day garbage incineration plant being planned by the Board of County Commissioners, compatible with a sustainable environment and economy?”

Backers of the plan may take issue with the use of the word “incinerator,” as county commissioners and others quoted in news stories reported in the Gazette of Gaithersburg, Md., have referred to the proposed facility as a waste-to-energy plant for unrecyclable solid waste.

The ILSR is nonetheless offering a $250 prize for the best answer to the question as it has phrased it, using the word “incinerator.”

Answers may be in prose (500 words or less) or graphic depiction such as a cartoon, according to the ILSR’s Neil Seldman.

Seldman says the ILSR will forward all responses to a citizens committee comprised of small business owners, elected officials, journalists and long-time residents of Frederick County. All submissions must be dated no later than Oct. 15, 2008.

The winner will be announced by Nov, 15, 2008 and the prize money forwarded immediately thereafter, says Seldman.