MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Miami-Dade County officials on Tuesday said a key deadline was missed in negotiations tied to a proposed waste-to-energy incinerator project, as debate over the long-term trash disposal plan continues.
Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins said Tuesday that a consortium involving Florida Power & Light and FCC Environmental Services failed to deliver a draft interim agreement to county commissioners by an expected deadline.
The agreement was intended to be presented to the board for consideration as part of ongoing negotiations over a potential new incinerator project, according to Cohen Higgins.
“If you have been following this saga, today was the deadline the consortium of FCC and FPL to bring a negotiated memorandum of understanding to the board, but nothing is on our agenda,” she said.
The proposed partnership would involve Florida Power & Light and Spain-based FCC Group’s FCC Environmental Services as Miami-Dade continues evaluating options for replacing or rebuilding its waste-to-energy system.
Cohen Higgins said the delay raises concerns about the pace of negotiations and the need for a more defined plan.
“We need to move this forward. We need to advance this,” she said. “Our incinerator, whether we move forward with one or not, we need a long-term plan of how we are going to dispose of waste.”
Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, of District 12, said discussions between the parties are ongoing but acknowledged the deadline to bring the item forward was not met.
“It appears it is not on the agenda, so obviously they are still discussing it, is my understanding, the two parties,” Bermudez said. “So that deadline to be on the agenda was missed to begin (the) process of looking at the full scope.”
Miami-Dade’s waste-to-energy system has been under scrutiny since a major fire damaged the county’s facility three years ago.
In February, commissioners directed staff to negotiate an interim agreement with the consortium and return with a proposal in April.
Roy Coley, Miami-Dade’s chief utilities and regulatory services officer for Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, said the county recently received financial modeling from the consortium but said key decisions remain unresolved.
“We did receive a financial model on April 17,” Coley said. “We are going through that model. We are going to submit it to our financial consultants to validate all those assumptions.”
Coley also noted uncertainty about the timing for next steps, including site selection.
“I don’t know how we move forward without selecting a property, and we still don’t have a property selected,” he said.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado, of District 7, said the county is extending the review period to allow more analysis of financial details, site options and waste-processing methods.
“We are giving an extension on coming back to the board so they can give us more financials,” she said. “We still don’t have a property selected. We don’t know what to do with the ash.”
Commissioners said other waste management options remain under consideration, including continued use of rail to transport waste out of the county and recycling-based alternatives.
Potential sites for a future facility remain under review, including county-owned land such as Opa-locka West Airport. Commissioners previously rejected proposals involving royalty fee structures tied to the project.
Officials said negotiations are expected to continue before any final proposal is brought back before the commission.
Florida Power & Light responded to the missed deadline in a statement:
“FPL is complying with the wishes of the commission, to come together with FCC – a former competitor, now partner in this project - to create a joint project that will benefit Miami-Dade County,“ the statement read. ”We are working diligently to do just that and will come before this commission in May to provide an update.”
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