By KATHERINE MANDT
Minneapolis houses one of seven trash incinerators in Minnesota. The Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) incinerator is located on the edge of Downtown Minneapolis, close to North Minneapolis and the densely populated Phillips Community and other Minneapolis Communities.
Residents of these Communities have seen and lived the impacts of the HERC. They want to see the HERC shut down.
“I have a stake in getting this shutdown. I have two little kids growing up. I love to ride my bike. I have friends who come here to ride their bikes. They’re breathing in all this smut. It’s gotta go’” said Marco Fields, a Northside resident, in an article published in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
A trash incinerator burns hazardous materials in a combustion chamber at high temperatures to destroy contaminants. Solid waste can take between 30 to 90 minutes, while liquid and gaseous waste can be done in 2 seconds. They emit particulate matter, lead, mercury, dioxins and furans, and other gasses.
The National Park Service states being exposed to particulate matter can have long and short term effects.
“Long-term exposures . . . have been associated with problems such as reduced lung function, development of chronic bronchitis, and even premature death.”
According to MinnPost, asthma rates in the Phillips Community are 2+ times higher than the state average for asthma. But it’s one that some community members may find difficult to get diagnosed.
Marcus Milani, a medical student at the University of Minnesota and co-chair of the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic (PNC), explained that organizations like the PNC are unable to directly link the incinerator to high rates of asthma and allergies because they do not have access to the diagnostic equipment or have trained personnel to run the tests.
“[Asthma] is such a common condition that affects so many people but it’s actually one that is quite difficult to get that official diagnosis. And insurance needs that official diagnosis to pay for medications . . . that is one of the challenges we see at our clinics,” said Milani.
Community members who want to advocate for themselves and their community can call their city council person by visiting the website for the City of Minneapolis: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/city-council/members/.
To learn more on this topic or to get involved, Minneapolis – and Phillips Community members can check out the Zero Burn Coalition on Instagram.
Katherine Mandt is a student at St. Catherine University studying Exercise and Sports Science Pre-Physical Therapy.
