The movement against incinerators is growing stronger
A Guardian investigation, a federal lawsuit, and local coverage all point the same direction.
The national movement against trash incineration is gaining ground, and Hennepin County is on the wrong side of it.
Look at what has happened in just the last few weeks.
The Guardian investigated incinerators and PFAS.
On May 30, The Guardian reported that trash incinerators across the country are releasing PFAS — i.e. toxic "forever chemicals" — into the air of the communities around them. The Minnesota Resource Recovery Association, the incinerator industry's trade group, commissioned a report claiming these burners cut PFAS emissions by 99.6 percent. An analysis by Dr. Doug Gurian-Sherman, a retired EPA risk assessment scientist, found that report full of bad assumptions, incomplete data, and misleading language, and independent incineration experts who reviewed it agreed. A former DuPont PFAS scientist called it a “pretty poor study.”
A federal lawsuit is taking the EPA to court over incinerator pollution.
Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project are suing the U.S. EPA over its emission standards for municipal trash incinerators, arguing the agency set limits far weaker than modern pollution controls can achieve — violating the Clean Air Act. This would mean HERC’s permit breaks federal law. At stake are mercury, lead, dioxins, and other cancer-causing emissions released into the neighborhoods next door. Roughly 80 percent of the incinerators covered sit in environmental justice communities.
The growing movement against burning trash is showing up locally too.
On May 29, City Cast Twin Cities devoted an episode to the question outright: "Can Activists Finally Close the HERC?" Nazir Khan, MNEJT’s executive director and one of the coalition's three hunger strikers, joined the show to explain why they escalated the fight and what closing the trash burner would mean for the community. He talked about its grandfathered permit and the whistleblowers who’ve revealed the truth about HERC’s poor, dangerous operations. Give it a listen.
This is what momentum looks like. The science is independent. The public is paying attention. The law is catching up. Communities across the country are closing these facilities, and the industry's story is falling apart.
What has not changed is Hennepin County's silence. The Board still has not taken a public vote to close the HERC trash burner by December 31, 2027, nor committed to a community-led just transition task force.
The country is moving away from burning trash. It is past time for Hennepin County to catch up.
Take action in your neighborhood: https://www.mobilize.us/mnejtable/