Ash Headed to Pennsylvania

Danielle Jackson

Harrisburg, Pa. -- About 3,000 tons of incinerated ash that originated in Philadelphia but has spent the past 16 years traveling throughout the Atlantic is set to return to its native state.

The ash, shipped first to the Caribbean and then Florida over the past 16 years, is expected to end up in a landfill 50 miles southwest of Harrisburg by the end of the month, if the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) gets its way.

Pennsylvania and Florida environmental officials and Houston-based Waste Management Inc. are finishing a plan to move the ash from Florida by rail and truck. Waste Management owns the landfill and acquired the ash in a business deal.

Some Pennsylvania residents worry that the ash is hazardous because it has been rejected over the years by several sites, although tests show that it is safe.