COVANTA Hempstead Company
Westbury, New York

Covanta Energy's facility in Hempstead, New York, opened for business in 1989. The Hempstead facility, Long Island's largest waste-to-energy plant, provides environmentally safe municipal solid waste disposal for the nation's most populous township. It marks the first United States installation of a globally successful mass burn technology, Deutsche Babcock Anlagen.

The Hempstead facility accepts delivery of waste six days a week and processes on a 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week basis. Steam created in the combustion process drives a 72-megawatt turbine generator producing electricity for in-plant use and for sale to the local utility. Three dry scrubber systems control acid gases, as do fabric filters, minimizing the release of particulates before exiting the exhaust stack.

The Hempstead facility is the cornerstone of the town's integrated waste service plan that includes an extensive curbside collection system for recyclable materials and a long-term agreement with neighboring Brookhaven for disposal of ash residue.

OSHA designated the Hempstead plant a Star facility in 1994. Covanta Hempstead set the OSHA Star standard for all other waste-to-energy facilities in the nation, as it received the very first Star in the industry.

Technical Data

Directions:

Map for Hempstead