Miami-Dade mayor backtracks on rebuilding controversial incinerator

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is abandoning a proposed plan to build a new trash incinerator in Miami-Dade County.

In a memo released on Saturday, Levine Cava discussed the challenges involved in waste management and understood the importance of finding a solution after the Resource Recovery Facility in Doral was burned down in February of 2023.

Levine Cava, in her memo, is "recommending that we continue to long haul waste via truck and rail using our contracted capacity, while we continue exploring options to build a landfill outside of Miami-Dade County."

She also explained how the building of any new site will be costly and will be opened to potential legal challenges.

In her memo, Levine Cava outlined three options as they continue to move forward with this issue.

• Use of Contracted Capacity: There is a contract with Waste Management to have landfill capacity for 3.5 million tons
• Build a Landfill Outside Miami-Dade County: The Department of Solid Waste Management has been looking at options to build a new landfill outside of the county.
• Build a Replacement WTE facility: Staff are working to find ways to build a new waste-to-energy facility.

The proposal for the building of the incinerator has been met with controversy.

Several activists have denounced the idea, asking for different solutions to avoid garbage dumps and incinerators.

Back in November, Levine Cava recommended placing the new incinerator at the same site that burned down.

Levine Cava's plan were met with criticism by President Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump, who met with Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez and told him he called the mayor to voice his concerns about keeping the incinerator in Doral, where Trump National Doral is located.

NBC6 spoke with Doral Mayor Christi Fraga following the mayor's reversal.

"“I think it was very helpful to have large investors in our community, not just them, but also in downtown Doral, The Codina Group is also part of this, so people who have a large interest in the development that’s happened in Doral have definitely opined and that absolutely had an effect on the decision of the recommendation,” she said.

Fraga believes Levine Cava's new recommendation is a win for Doral.

"Building on this location wasn't going to solve the needs for the county long-term, and spending $1.2 to $1.8 billion, which is around the range where it was, really did not make financial sense for the county,” she said. "There is other options, which she is proposing."

Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam also weighed in on the latest development.

“Airport West is less than an 8th of a mile from the City of Miramar and on environmentally sensitive property, so that threatens our quality of life, it threatens the access to clean water, so we've always stated that if we were left no options, that the City of Miramar would seek every legal and environmental recourse to oppose the the selection of Airport West,” said.

On Tuesday, there will be a workshop with Mayor Levine Cava and the county commissioners to discuss the issue.

Fraga and Messam tell NBC6 they plan to be there.