While you may have seen it stated that Fibrowatt was “banned in Delaware”, this is not correct. There is no ban on Fibrowatt in Delaware and there is no ban on poultry litter combustion in Delaware. In fact, poultry litter combustion is specifically allowed in Delaware, but at small scale. What the State of Delaware has is a land use restriction that does not allow a waste combustor near certain types of land use.

So – what are the facts on the situation in Delaware?

This issue began with efforts in Delaware to stop a trash-to-energy plant. In 1985, the Pigeon Point Landfill, located in an urban industrial area on the Delaware River near the Port of Wilmington, was closed. After closure, the site went through the Superfund hazardous waste site process, was cleaned up, and delisted. After delisting, the owner of the landfill, the Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) looked to build a trash-to-energy facility at the closed landfill where few other uses could likely be considered.

In June 1998, after several years of development activities, the plant was ultimately blocked by state legislation, which responded to concerns over past problems at the landfill and impacts that this new project might have on neighboring communities. The Delaware Legislature passed Senate Bill 98, which prevented the siting of solid waste combustors in coastal zones – stopping the Pigeon Point project. What Senate Bill 98 basically did was expand existing industrial development restrictions in Coastal Zones (previously established for refineries, steel plants, paper mills, and chemical plants) to cover waste combustors. In Delaware, Coastal Zones are defined geographically as areas between certain major roadways and the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. These areas are considered important areas where industrial development is controlled for purposes of protecting existing resources – based on environmental, scenic beauty, recreational, and alternative development purposes.

With a number of other waste combustion projects being considered across Delaware – outside of the coastal zone – the Legislature eventually took further efforts to restrict the siting of waste combustors. In 2000, the Delaware Legislature enacted additional industrial land use restrictions, Senate Bill 280; to prohibit the construction of solid waste combustors outside of an industrial zoned area, or within 3 miles of a school, church, park or residence. Within this Act, there are exemptions for

  1. crematoriums,
  2. dead animal incinerators,
  3. incineration of pharmaceutical and veterinary manufacturing and research wastes,
  4. “poultry mortality” disposal by incineration, and
  5. the burning of poultry waste or poultry manure [i.e. poultry litter] at the farm it was generated on or using material from adjacent farms.

For a State the size and population of Delaware, it is not surprising that they have utilized land use restrictions as a means to control development.

While Delaware has limited the ability to locate facilities in certain areas, there is no ban on solid waste combustion in the State. What is also factually certain is that there is no Fibrowatt ban in Delaware and no Delaware ban on poultry waste combustion – unlike what has been stated in various forums.