Why we’re shipping our trash elsewhere

Area residents brought their trash and recyclables to the Salisbury-Sharon transfer station on Sunday, Feb. 20.
Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan
SALISBURY — It’s hard to imagine that it would ever get to this point. Up until recently, what we did with our waste in most of the Northwest Corner was quite simple: we bought a sticker at town hall, separated the trash from the recyclables, and took it all to the transfer station, where they would be taken care of.
Anything that might be reusable went into the Swap Shop, a dusty room full of what most people considered junk, but that others saw as an opportunity for reuse. The recyclables were turned over to a company that hauled them away to a facility that separated them, cleaned them and broke them down. If the towns were lucky, the recycling hauler would pay something for the privilege. The trash was sent to an incinerator in Hartford for a fee. End of story.
Before our towns started sending their garbage — known formally in Connecticut as municipal solid waste (MSW) — to incinerators, they deposited them in their own landfills. But by the 1990s, Connecticut had closed almost all of its dumps.
Most of the towns simply converted their landfills to transfer stations. Since 1975, Salisbury and Sharon operated a shared transfer station on land leased from The Hotchkiss School. That changed when the two towns leveraged their partnership to build a new $4.8-million transfer station on Route 44 near the New York state line.
The only landfill of any size remaining in the state is in Putnam, where a massive dump receives nearly 600,000 tons of ash per year from trash-to-energy plants such as the one that burns our waste in Hartford.
Now the situation has become much more complicated and likely much more expensive for our towns. Using two General Electric turbines that date back to the 1950s, the aforementioned trash-to-energy incinerator burns garbage and turns it into electricity — 45 megawatts, to be exact — enough to power 35,000 homes.
Located in the North Meadows section of Hartford and operated by the quasi-public Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA), the facility we send our garbage to is on its last legs.
MIRA’s aging trash-to-energy plant, which handles an estimated 35% of the state’s waste, broke down in 2018 and was out of commission for several months, causing MIRA and its member towns, including Salisbury and Sharon, to scramble. Meanwhile, thousands of tons of garbage began to pile up inside and outside the aging facility.
“It was nerve-wracking,” MIRA President and CEO Thomas D. Kirk told the CT Mirror’s Tom Condon. “Thank God we didn’t have a fire.”
After a temporary fix in 2019, MIRA came up with a plan to replace the plant to the tune of $330 million. The administration of Gov. Ned Lamont practically laughed the proposal right out of the Capital City.
So MIRA’s board made the decision to shut down the trash-to-energy plant and use the property as a glorified transfer station from which to ship the garbage out of state for its remaining member towns.
MIRA’s problems, however, did not start with its busted incinerator. MIRA, formerly known as the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA), prompted ridicule, contempt and cries of injustice when, during the administration of then-Gov. John Rowland, it made an ill-fated $220 million loan to Enron, the energy-trading giant that later went belly-up in an accounting scandal.
When Enron defaulted, CRRA raised its tipping fees to cover its losses, resulting in a protracted and costly lawsuit from its then-70 member towns seeking compensation for the overcharging. The authority finally settled the suit for $21 million.
As one might expect, the antipathy between CRRA and its member towns extends well beyond an ill-advised and unsecured loan to a corrupt corporation. To wit, the authority took legal action in 2006 to try to stop the Salisbury-Sharon transfer station from sending its recyclables to a third party that paid the two towns for the raw materials.
Since it was accepting garbage from the two towns, CRRA insisted it was entitled to taking their paper recyclables as well. What was the price CRRA was willing to pay? Nothing. Town officials said the arrogance was staggering.
“They said they would take our junk mail and not charge us for it,” then-First Selectman Val Bernardoni quipped to this reporter. “They have 70 towns under contract; they’ll make a bundle.”
So it’s safe to say that there’s no reservoir of goodwill among MIRA’s member towns, including those in the Northwest Corner, which relies heavily on the authority. That’s probably why the Lamont administration wanted no part of approving MIRA’s pricey proposal to build a new incinerator. And reputation management might very well be the main reason the General Assembly allowed CRRA to change its name. If you Google MIRA, you won’t find much about its past problems as CRRA.
And so we find ourselves in quite a pickle. The costs of operating our transfer stations will rise — perhaps sharply. Thanks to COVID-related money from the federal government, states and municipalities can probably foot the bills in the short term.
But the day of financial reckoning will arrive soon enough. Last spring, MIRA put out requests for bids for contractors to haul away the waste from its facility. MIRA President and CEO Thomas Kirk told Condon its current disposal rate for garbage is $105.
If the 49 member towns don’t jump ship, Kirk forecasts a tipping fee of $114-$119 a ton in the first year of a five-year disposal contract, going to $139 in the fifth year. That rate could rise by $15 if more towns bail out on MIRA, or it could rise by even more if, as expected, MIRA must ship waste to landfills as far away as Alabama or Michigan. To give you a sense of perspective, as recently as 2019, the cost was $83 per ton.
With antiquated systems for collecting fees and perverse incentives for recycling still in place in our towns, the current trajectory is clearly unsustainable. What can we do? Stay tuned.
This is the first of a two-part series on Connecticut’s waste crisis and how it affects the Northwest Corner.
Emergency responders block Amenia Union Road in Sharon Saturday, Oct. 11, while responding to the vehicle crash.
SHARON — Emergency crews were called Saturday, Oct. 11, to Amenia Union Road in Sharon for a report of a vehicle into a building with entrapment.
The call went out shortly after 3 p.m. with an update at 3:20 p.m. reporting one dead on arrival, two conscious. Emergency helicopter transport was requested.
State police released the following information: "Troopers from Troop B - North Canaan, responded to Amenia Union Rd in Sharon for a motor vehicle into a building. Serious injuries were reported, and LifeStar was dispatched to the scene. The roadway was closed in the area for several hours for the investigation but has since reopened. The investigation remains active, anything further will be posted to cspnews.org when available."
Updates will be posted.
LAKEVILLE — Rhys V. Bowen, 65, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sept. 15, 2025. Rhys was born in Sharon, Connecticut, on April 9, 1960 to Anne H. Bowen and the late John G. Bowen. His brother, David, died in 1979.
Rhys grew up at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where his father taught English. Attending Hotchkiss, Rhys excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball, and baseball. During these years, he also learned the challenges and joys of running, and continued to run at least 50 miles a week, until the day he died.
In 1982 after graduating summa cum laude from Harvard College, Rhys returned to Hotchkiss to teach biology, where he met his wife of 35 years, Rebecca (Becky) Snow. After two years of teaching, he worked at a research field site in Borneo, then went on to the University of California, Davis where he earned a PhD in Animal Behavior in 1995.
Rather than follow an academic tenure track, Rhys preferred the solitary focus of field ornithology, and he spent several decades researching the ecology of bird species in California and on Cape Cod and the Islands. Rhys believed passionately in supporting biodiversity through habitat preservation. His proudest achievements, therefore, came through his work for the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, in New Hampshire, where he served on committees and the Board of Trustees for twenty years, including three years as Chair.
Deeply intellectual and curious, Rhys learned Homeric Greek so he could read The Odyssey and The Iliad in their original language. An amateur Melville scholar, he would wax poetic about reading Moby-Dick for the umpteenth time.Rhys’s spirit was filled by the performing arts. Concerts by the Handel and Haydn Society and Boston Early Music Festival often brought tears to his eyes, while Boston Bluegrass Union shows delivered toe-tapping fidgetiness.
Rhys will be missed by his wife, Becky Snow, his mother, Anne Bowen, extended family, friends, and anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
A service will be held at The Hotchkiss School chapel on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 at 1 p.m..
In honor of Rhys’s memory, donations can be made to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust.
LAKEVILLE — Kelsey K. Horton, 43, a lifelong area resident, died peacefully on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, following a courageous battle with cancer. Kelsey worked as a certified nursing assistant and administrative assistant at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, from 1999 until 2024, where she was a very respected and loved member of their nursing and administrative staff.
Born Oct. 4, 1981, in Sharon, she was the daughter of W. Craig Kellogg of Southern Pines, North Carolina, and JoAnne (Lukens) Tuncy and her husband Donald of Millerton, New York. Kelsey graduated with the class of 1999 from Webutuck High School in Amenia and from BOCES in 1999 with a certificate from the CNA program as well. She was a longtime member of the Lakeville United Methodist Church in Lakeville. On Oct. 11, 2003, in Poughkeepsie, New York, she married James Horton. Jimmy survives at home in Lakeville. Kelsey loved camping every summer at Waubeeka Family Campground in Copake, and she volunteered as a cheer coach for A.R.C. Cheerleading for many years. Kelsey also enjoyed hiking and gardening in her spare time and spending time with her loving family and many dear friends.
In addition to her husband and parents, Kelsey is survived by her two beloved children, Hunter Horton and Aryanna Horton, both of Lakeville; a step-brother, Jason Tuncy of East Hartford, Connecticut; her mother-in-law, Frances “Fran” Horton and her brother-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton III and his wife Penny of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and their son, Alec, and several aunts, uncles, cousins and many dear friends. She was predeceased by her father-in-law, Benjamin D. Horton, Jr. in 2017.
There are no calling hours. A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Millerton American Legion Post # 178, Route 44, Millerton, NY 12546. A time to celebrate Kelsey and share stories and memories. Memorial contributions may be made to The Jane Lloyd Fund. Please make checks payable to Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (please note in memo line, The Jane Lloyd Fund) and mail to: Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 800 N. Main Street, Sheffield, MA 01257.
To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Kelsey’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546.
SHARON — On Sept. 27, Eliot Warren Brown was shot and killed at age 47 at his home in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a random act of violence by a young man in need of mental health services. Eliot was born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, and attended Indian Mountain School and Concord Academy in Massachusetts. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his wife Brooke moved to New Orleans to answer the call for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and fell in love with the city.
In addition to his wife Brooke, Eliot leaves behind his parents Malcolm and Louise Brown, his sisters Lucia (Thaddeus) and Carla (Ruairi), three nephews, and extended family and friends spread far and wide.
Normally at this point one might list some interests, but in Eliot’s case, it’s easier to list what he wasn’t interested in: watching sports.
Eliot made a living as a fine craftsman and carpenter, but at heart he was an artist. He was well versed in music, painting, literature, biking, travel, Mardi Gras costumes, poker, pranks, street performance and on and on and on.Having previously hiked the entire Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal, he recently achieved another dream of summiting the highest stratovolcano in North America.
Eliot’s creative ability was astounding. His creations were designed to bring joy to others. He didn’t seek recognition or praise, and a large part of his work was anonymous. Pieces of art would appear in the community, encouraging people to think, connect and enjoy.
From the precociously funny and determinedly defiant boy that grew up in the Northwest corner of Connecticut, Eliot grew into a brilliant, gentle souled, boundlessly creative, ever mischievous, perpetually scraggly, and astoundingly wise and caring man who made an indelible impact on those who were lucky to have him in their lives.
In honor of Eliot, please consider making donations to organizations that work to end gun violence, support the arts, or provide mental health services. A service will be held at the Congregational Church in Salisbury on Sunday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m.