A polluting waste incinerator project will not only put communities in danger, but will also put iconic endangered species in harm’s way, including the Puerto Rican Crested Toad, Puerto Rican Boa, manatees, and the Puerto Rican Parrot. 

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service has been considering the proposal to fund a waste incinerator in Arecibo, Puerto Rico for Energy Answers since 2010. Groups are concerned the move would pave the way for generating dirty energy for decades, sending high volumes of waste to incineration and high volumes of air pollutants into an area that already exceeds safe concentrations for lead in ambient air. 

Community members and municipalities across Puerto Rico are against the proposed incinerator, a facility which would lock in the most expensive and polluting means to control waste and the most expensive and polluting means to generate electricity—all while exposing communities already suffering from unsafe lead levels and other toxic emissions to even more pollution.