HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A proposed air curtain incinerator (ACI) project was withdrawn after people living in Lutz voiced their concerns Thursday, saying the project wasn't welcome in their neighborhood. Friday, the company behind the ACI withdrew the plan.
According to the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, Louis Geraci LLLP withdrew its application for the proposed ACI project. The community meeting scheduled for August 23 has been canceled as a result of the withdrawal.
The Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) of Hillsborough County held a meeting Thursday, where they heard a presentation on a pending application for an air pollution permit to operate air curtain incinerators, or ACIs, in the Lutz area.
Over several days before the meeting, neighbors voiced their concerns over potential health, safety, environmental, and even traffic impacts.
“I hope they get the message that this is wrong, and they should have done a lot more research before deciding to put a facility like this here,” said Jen Messer, who lives near the site in Lutz.
According to a presentation during Thursday’s meeting, the applicant was requesting to build two ACIs to dispose of yard debris, which would burn up to 22,000 tons of debris each year.
Some commissioners said they were as upset as residents were. Hagan later made a motion, directing EPC to stop work on their permit and to send a letter to the Governor, Secretary of the DEP, and state legislators expressing their stern opposition to this project.
