The Benefits of Being a Mill City Commons Member - An Ongoing Series
Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 4:00AM
Dave and I became members of Mill City Commons earlier this year. We joined for a number of reasons, including the ability to attend interesting member-only events, meet fascinating people, and to have more of a hands on role in helping with their various fundraising activities.
The latest members-only event we attended was a tour of the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center(HERC), located at 417 North 5th Street (next to Target Field). Mark Zaban, a Hennepin County Engineer, provided our group with the history of HERC, an overview of how garbage is converted to energy, numerous facts and figures, and a walking tour through the actual facility.
You may recall one of the concerns for Target Field's location was that Twins fans would be assaulted with foul air from HERC. That turned out to be a non-issue. In fact, standing just outside the building there was no indication that it was a waste conversion facility. That's because there are a number of pollution control mechanisms in place.
Imagine 15 football fields, each piled 15 feet high with garbage. According to Mark, that's how much landfill space is saved each year by processing garbage at HERC. Unfortunately, it's cheaper to throw garbage in a landfill than it is to run a facility like HERC.
Below are a few pictures from our tour. View the full set of pictures here.
The below graph tells a disturbing story. The production of plastics (Generation) has sky-rocketed since 1960, yet the amount being recycled (Recovery) is still just a blip on the radar.
HERC operates 24/7. Below, Michael mans a bank of monitors and keeps in contact with workers in other areas of the facility.
To learn more about Mill City Commons, please visit the website, or contact Linnea at 612-455-3329 or linneatweed@millcitycommons.org.
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