WAIT & the Medwaste Incinerator Posted: July 22, 2006
In 1990 (or so), The Wolfe County Fiscal Court voted to contract with and invite Waste Energy of Kentucky to place the world's largest medical waste incinerator in the western end of the county. They made that choice without any public dialog.
The county residents became outraged and organized to reverse the committed contract signed by the county government. By a stroke of fortune the Governor of Kentucky, Wallace Wilkinson, was due to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony at the county courthouse.
In a county of 7000 people, 2000 were there to meet the governor. The governor's helicopter made two passes over the crowd before he landed.
I will credit the late governor with being astute: I cornered him as he came out of the courthouse, in front of the 2000 county residents, and asked him to declare a ban on incinerator permits until the next legislature. With only a little repetitious prompting and pitchfork waving from the crowd, Governor Wilkinson agreed.
The county residents then flooded to governor's office with calls until he delivered the promised permit moratorium. He had to add phones lines and dedicate staff to manage all the calls. The county residents went on to lobby the legislature, and worked a bill into law that gave counties a local control option on such large scale incinerators.
The WAIT handouts, distributed to the folks waiting for the governor:
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