“This is the most stupid political move city leaders could make,” he said.

He also dismissed the idea that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management could monitor the plant.

“Give me a break,” he said. He added that such incineration plants need strong regulation, scientific monitoring and aggressive enforcement.

“(IDEM) has given up on air testing. There is no monitoring for nano particles, and (the incinerator) is not being monitored.

“You’re not protected here.”

Connett said there might be 36 hours of monitoring by the state compared to 8,000 hours of operation.

He admits the incineration industry has gotten better over the years, but decried it for using the same upbeat rhetoric through the years.

He wants to debate PEAT officials at the public forum, but it’s not clear if they will be at the meeting. A message was left for Nelson Slavic, spokesman for PEAT, but not returned.

Linda Dawson, economic development director for the city of Anderson, said Mayor Kris Ockomon will make every effort to be at the meeting.

“To present as much information to the public as possible is a positive thing,” said Dawson.

In order to achieve Zero Waste, Connett said, there must be community responsibility, separation of residuals and industrial responsibility. If it can’t be recycled, industry shouldn’t be making it, he said.

If you go...

What: Public forum to discuss PEAT incineration plant