Wisdom of decision to nix incinerator is borne out in PennsylvaniaHere is a confidence booster for Del Norte County residents. Remember Barlow Projects, the company that came to Crescent City in 2003 to pitch its idea of building a waste-to-energy trash incinerator here? Community outcry against environmental hazards of the project, and the poor track record of the company in other cities, led to the failure of its proposal. Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania, was not so fortunate. In 2003, Barlow offered to repair Harrisburg’s broken trash incinerator for $77 million. By 2007, $105 million had been spent, Barlow filed for bankruptcy and Harrisburg hired another company to finish the repair. Now Harrisburg, a city of 50,000 residents, is over $300 million in debt and struggling to pay city expenses. Del Norte County’s population may be small, but we’re savvy to the motives of big outside companies. Anne Marie Duncan Crescent City |