“We did it!” said a jubilant Mikal Rashid, who helps lead Progressive Maryland’s Environmental Justice Task Force, as he celebrated the victory, after years of grassroots organizing and community pressure to stop Maryland from subsidizing trash incineration.
Burning trash, known euphemistically as “waste-to-energy,” was long subsidized by Maryland, which has contributed to high rates of asthma in the state, especially in neighborhoods like South Baltimore. Baltimore is home to a mass burn facility, which has been in operation since 1985. Rashid himself was diagnosed with asthma after he moved to the Cherry Hill neighborhood in South Baltimore, less than two miles from the Win Waste incinerator.
This is a huge win for low-income, black and brown communities that have carried the burden of trash incineration for far too long,” Rashid said. “This moment proves that people power works. No cash for trash!”