Harbor Rock’s Incinerator Plant

In the fall of 2024, REC became aware of Harbor Rock’s plans for a sludge incinerator on the site of the former BASF plant in Rensselaer because of this TU article.

Dubbed Norlite 2.0, the new sludge incinerator (or kiln) would “cook” Hudson River dredge spoils creating an aggregate material used in construction. Harbor Rock representatives claimed the harmful chemicals present in the Hudson River such as PFAS and PCBs would “break down” when exposed to high heat, but offered no proof of their claim.

Environmental experts informed the REC those chemicals do not “break down” at high temperatures. Instead, those chemicals would be released into the air around the city, affecting Rensselaer’s air quality. Rensselaer is 3-square miles in size but is currently the home to the following industrial sites:

-Natural gas power station
-Amtrak station
-Port of Rensselaer
-Asphalt plant
-Former BASF chemical dye-plant and current EPA superfund site
-Rensselaer is split by Interstate-90
-the infamous Dunn Landfill

Rensselaer already has its share of pollution and environmental blight. It did not need a chemical incinerator too. It didn’t take long for REC, the Sisters of Mercy, Lights out Norlite, and other activists to quickly mobilize and form a dissent to this proposal.

On November 9th 2024, environmental activists from all across the capital region came together to voice a powerful dissent.

On December 4th 2024, the Rensselaer Common Council passed a local law banning industrial incinerators due to outcry from residents.

The failed Harbor Rock Incinerator proposal is an example of a community standing together and protecting itself against an outside corporate agenda.

Thanks to our friends at Sisters of Mercy and Lights Out Norlite!