Why Marion Mayor Voted Against the Trash Vaporizer Council Endorsed

Marion is one step further from being the first city in the United States to convert its trash into energy using a new technology, called plasma arc.

The Marion City Council approved an edited contract with Plasma Power LLC on Monday night. The company deals in plasma arc technology, which uses high energy plasma to break down trash into a natural gas like product and an inert rock byproduct.

The new contract passed 5-1, with Marion Mayor Allen "Snooks" Bouska casting the only dissenting vote.

"I do not want to gamble on taxpayers money," he said.

What’s the reason for the divide?

First, you have to understand what the new contract does.

The contract stipulates the amount of trash Marion is to contribute to the facility, in addition to setting requirements on Plasma Power LLC to make sure they have enough customers and trash to stick around.

The new contract makes a few changes. Before, Marion was responsible for coming up with 250 tons of waste per day, which the new contract reduces to 125 tons.

Though the residents and businesses of Marion only supply a total of 100 tons per day, the new contract specifies that any outside trash hauler hired by the city will count towards that total. In addition, the Solid Waste Agency previously passed a resolution stating they would contribute 100 tons per day.

Additionally, the new agreement outlines economic incentives for Marion to contribute additional trash. Should the city provide 300 pounds of trash per day for an entire year, the city will receive a $150,000 bonus.

What’s the problem?

Bouska said he has three major issues with the contract.

1. He doesn’t like that Plasma Power LLC can build the facility in Cedar Rapids and not exclusively in Marion.

2. Second, he thinks that the council should have revised the contract to require much less trash than 125 tons. He worries that since the Solid Waste Agency has only passed a resolution saying they would give 100 tons, it doesn’t mean they will because the statement is not a legally binding agreement.

City Council members do not share his views

City Council Member Paul Draper pointed out that Plasma Power LLC still has to approve the new contract, and he thinks they would be unlikely to agree on any contract that requires them to build their multi-million dollar facility exclusively in Marion.

He said this is especially risky considering that the steam generated by the facility is aimed to be sold to downtown Cedar Rapids manufacturers, meaning it might be in Plasma Power LLC’s best interest to build close to these plants.

"We are talking about them spending a lot of money," he said. "I don’t think we could restrict them to building in Marion."

But Craig Adamson, Marion City Council member, agreed with the sentiment that relying on the Solid Waste Agency’s word may pose a risk. Still, there are opportunities to make up for any loss should the agency not follow through with its plans because other communities and trash haulers in the area could be interested in getting rid of their waste without shipping it to a landfill in Illinois, he said.

Change of heart

Adamson said that he was initially voted in to the Marion City Council to combat the dangers of Marion’s landfills, one of which is unlined. The outcry over the potential environmental effects of the landfills lead to the creation of Waste Not Iowa, a group he is a member of that has been a driving force in bringing plasma arc technology to the area.

Despite that, Adamson said he was planning to vote down the contract, but was swayed by the adjustments made to it.

"I was assuming I would vote no against this, but since we talked it through, it was obvious to me that the potential benefits outweigh the risk," he said. "And now we’ll see five years from now if I’m right."