Puerto Rican stateside lawmakers Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez and Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez met with U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Thursday to brief him — and express their opposition — on the waste-to-energy incinerator project proposed by Energy Answers in Arecibo.
More than three years after first proposing the construction of a $750 million Resource Recovery Facility — or waste-to-energy — plant in Arecibo, Albany, NY-based Energy Answers confirmed Thursday that the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board of Puerto Rico granted the Air Quality Location and Construction Final Permit needed to move forward with the project.
Eight years into a drive to build a $650 million waste-to-energy plant in Arecibo, the first of its kind in Puerto Rico, Energy Answers is moving closer to its goal. But roadblocks remain, including one serious enough to challenge the project's financial viability.