Community Corner

Board Prepares to Pay $3 Million Waste Incinerator Penalty

The board of commissioners voted to secure the money to pay for backing out of a waste-to-energy incinerator project with Frederick County.

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners Thursday voted to set aside $3 million to pay for penalties in case the county backs out of a contract with Frederick County to build a waste incinerator. 

In a 3 to 1 vote, with one abstaining, the commissioners agreed to use money from its contingency fund to pay the penalty for breaking the contract, which would have seen the two counties sharing the estimated $500 million cost of construction of the incinerator. 

Voting in favor were Commissioners Richard Rothschild, Robin Bartlett Frazier and Haven Shoemaker. Commissioners Dave Roush voted against the proposal.

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After a heated debate in which Rothschild said Commissioner Doug Howard’s campaign stood to benefit from the incinerator project, Howard recused himself from voting. 

The previous board had agreed to go ahead with the incinerator, which they said would burn waste and create electricity for about 45,000 homes in Carroll and Frederick Counties.

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Currently, Carroll County pays to have its waste hauled to a landfill in Pennsylvania. 


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