The path to BRESCO, shown above on September 15, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland, is lined with banners from Wheelabrator, the facility’s operator, that touts its many partnerships with the city, including electricity generated by the facility and recycling programs initiated in nearby communities. (Harrison Jacobs/VICE News)
‘It smells like death’
Multiple studies, one of which was commissioned by Wheelabrator, have found no clear links between asthma rates and air quality or emissions in Baltimore. But there’s no doubt residents are suffering. The average life expectancies in multiple South Baltimore neighborhoods are less than 70, according to the city health department. Drive 10 miles north to wealthy Roland Park and it jumps to 84.“When you put these large single sources of emissions in communities that are health-compromised and are already being bombarded with lots of other pollution sources, it has a cumulative effect,” said Ana Baptista, the associate director of The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center and the author of an extensive review of the incineration industry.“Damn near everyone here has a breathing issue. The air is different. It’s a silent killer.”
The South Baltimore area is encircled by highways like Interstate 95, shown above on September 15, 2020, which some studies indicate is the biggest contributor to air quality. (Harrison Jacobs/VICE News)
BRESCO isn’t going down without a fight
“That facility is going to be shut down by the end of 2021 even if we have to lay down in front of the trucks.”
No city has hit ‘zero-waste'
Sanitation workers pick up trash on a street in the Westport neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, on September 15, 2020, that will be taken to BRESCO for incineration. Recycling pickup was suspended in August because of a labor shortage due to the pandemic. (Harrison Jacobs/VICE News)