By: Sam Schmitz, Project Manager, DC Events and Policy, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: February 19, 2025
About: Supporting CB11-2025 & Encouraging Howard County Council to Put People over Profits
To: Howard County Council
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Sam Schmitz, and I am here on behalf of Moms Clean Air Force to support CB11-2025 and to encourage the Howard County Council to put people over profits and protect your constituents.
Moms Clean Air Force is an organization of over 1.5 million parents and caregivers nationwide united to fight air pollution to protect children and families everywhere. Notably, we have over 23,000 members just in Maryland. Our organization has been fighting these so-called “advanced recycling” facilities for several years now, but this technology has been around for decades. It’s not new or novel and calling it innovation is a stretch at best. This process has been attempted for over forty years without success. We don’t need more research: it’s already clear it’s not safe nor economically viable. Chemical companies just continue to attempt this to rake in subsidies and to help justify the tripling of plastics production.
Let’s be clear. Advanced recycling is neither advanced nor recycling. Advanced recycling is simply a greenwashed term for burning plastic or incineration as this plant has been designated by MDE & EPA. This is part of a long-standing effort by the chemical industry to evade crucial environmental and public health regulations like the Clean Air Act.
The plastic burning that is disguised as these “advanced recycling” facilities can emit particulate matter (soot), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and dioxins. These toxic chemicals can cause cancer, worsened asthma, respiratory issues, neurological challenges, developmental delays, preterm birth, low birth weight, miscarriages, stillbirth, and birth defects. Would you accept those risks for your children?
It’s also crucial that we acknowledge the unfortunate fact that the many children growing up in Cedar Creek are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution since their bodies are still developing and because children breathe in more air for their size than adults. For them, breathing in more air would mean breathing in more air pollution. This is not to mention the consequences that W.R. Grace’s climate-warming emissions will have in fueling an unstable climate that children will inherit. Air pollution and climate emissions know no boundaries – what you choose to do will set the precedent across Maryland.
Technically speaking, the terms “chemical recycling” and “advanced recycling” generally refer to pyrolysis incineration processes that burn plastic trash and turn it into harmful air pollution and chemical wastes. Some of the outputs created by “chemical recycling” facilities are burned again later as hazardous waste or as heavily contaminated industrial fuels, releasing additional toxic air pollution. What part of that sounds like recycling?
I also want to reiterate that Grace’s docket 16-23 permit application utilized 2020 census data for their environmental justice assessment which was prior to Cedar Creek residents moving into their newly built homes. This is important because as you’ve probably noticed, roughly 80% of the neighborhood is people of color. And I want to underline and take a moment to acknowledge what we witnessed last night and again today. Children and parents, mostly children and parents of color, begging their elected officials to protect them from a facility they know will hurt their health and their future. This is a tale as old as time – companies coming into communities of color to pollute their air, expecting them not to fight back. Well, Cedar Creek and River Hill residents have come together and ARE fighting back – that's why so many of them have brought their families here two nights in a row now and have put their lives on hold to fight this polluting plant.
No child should have to show up at a County Council Hearing to fight for clean air or grow up with cancer-causing air pollutants in their backyard. Howard County Council must put a stop to W.R. Grace’s money grab looking to take advantage of loopholes, exceptions, and grandfathering in. You must ensure they keep this community safe. Please pass CB11-2025. Thank you for your time.