Trash Vaporizing Plan Delayed. When Will it be Completed?

The Marion City Council decided to temporarily table the plasma arc project at Thursday’s city council meeting.

The decision was made to allow changes to the contract between Plasma Power — the possible contractor for the project —  and the City of Marion.

That means that plasma arc technology, a process where trash is literally vaporized to create an inert rock and a gas with similar properties to natural gas, may take a little longer to come to Marion.

Currently, there are four possible locations for the facility: one in Marion and three in Cedar Rapids.

Marion City Manager Lon Pluckhahn, who is in charge of working on the revised contract, said he couldn’t talk about the requested changes by the council, but said it has agreed to convene a special meeting next Tuesday, if necessary. 

The Marion City Council held an executive session near the end of the meeting — meaning the council exited the board room to discuss the contract off the record — and took nearly an hour to decide to send the contract back, which was met with some groans by waiting residents.

Marion City Council member Paul Draper concluded the meeting by thanking those in the audience who waited and pledging to get this project completed.

"I for one fully believe in the plasma technology and hopefully the city manager can get it done in a timely manner," he said.

For more information on the project and how plasma arc technology works, click .