Good news for Pembroke Pines: Miami-Dade might not get new incinerator after all
Miami-Dade’s possible retreat from plans to build a new $2 billion trash incinerator could be good news to residents and officials in Miramar and Pembroke Pines who have feared being downwind from the proposed sites.
In a memo released Friday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signaled the county may abandon efforts to replace the Doral waste-to-energy plant destroyed by fire in 2023 after county commissioners rejected a $14 yearly increase in residential garbage rates., the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday, May 26.
“The county cannot responsibly continue spending ratepayer dollars and staff resources to plan a Waste to Energy (WTE) facility while rejecting the rate increases necessary to fund the system it would depend upon,” Levine Cava wrote in the memo.
If no new revenue is approved, Levine Cava said it would be a waste to continue spending money on consultants for the project. So far, the tab is $13 million, the Herald reported.
For Miramar and Pembroke Pines, Miami-Dade’s money problems could mark a major turning point in a years-long regional battle over where Miami-Dade would build a replacement incinerator.
Two competing firms remain in talks to submit a joint proposal to build the facility:
- The FPL site is a 65-acre vacant plot off Okeechobee Road in the county’s rock mining area.
- The FCC site is a 78-acre property being used as the Ace Truck Parking Yard, about a mile outside Hialeah.
Miramar leaders and residents have repeatedly voiced concerns that land near the Broward County line could become a target location for the massive facility.
Environmental advocates and neighborhood groups have long raised alarms over potential air pollution, odors, truck traffic and health concerns tied to waste-burning plants.
Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam and city residents were instrumental in convincing Miami-Dade not to build the incinerator at its first choice, the old Opa-Locka airport site.
The debate intensified after Miami-Dade’s longtime Doral incinerator shut down following a 2023 fire, forcing county leaders to search for alternatives to handle the county’s garbage.
Since then, Miami-Dade has relied heavily on shipping trash by truck and rail to landfills across Florida while simultaneously exploring construction of a modern waste-to-energy facility.
But Levine Cava’s latest comments underscore the growing political and financial hurdles the project faces.
Miami-Dade commissioners this month voted down a proposed 2% increase in residential garbage rates for 2027, an increase that would have raised annual costs for the typical household to about $716.
The mayor noted that if commissioners are unwilling to approve routine rate increases, it becomes difficult to justify continued planning for a project expected to cost roughly $2 billion.
Though Miami-Dade has not officially selected a site for a replacement plant, the possibility of locating a new incinerator near Broward communities has remained a politically sensitive issue.
Levine Cava’s memo does not formally kill the incinerator proposal. Miami-Dade commissioners could still revive discussions on future rate increases or pursue alternative financing options.
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Good news for Pembroke Pines: Miami-Dade might not get new incinerator after all."
