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Trash was the talk of the night Monday, and it will be again May 10, for the Greater Taylorsville Area Citizens' Council, which is taking a look at both side of the incinerator planned for Carroll and Frederick counties.

Don West of Westminster, a member of "Waste-Not Carroll," spoke at the group's Monday night meeting, summarizing the possibly negative budgetary and environmental impact of the project.

Mike Evans, director of public works for Carroll County, is scheduled to appear at the group's May 10 meeting to present upside to the incinerator, or what some people call a "waste-to-energy facility" because it burns trash to generate electricity.

Around 25 people came to hear of the incinerator, which is a partnership between both counties.

"It's a big issue for the area given the physical proximity," West said. "It's not only the truck traffic."

West said the main problem is what to do with trash, with the incinerator being the sidebar issue, albeit an urgent one at that.

Carroll County ships most of its trash to a landfill in Pennsylvania.

Mount Airy Councilwoman Wendi Peters, the town's liaison to the Sanitation and Recycling Commission, said all of Mount Airy's trash goes to a transfer station in Frederick County, Reichs Ford Road landfill, where it then goes to out-of-state landfills.

She said she is looking into ways to reduce the cost of waste in the town, and is looking at sending Carroll County trash to Carroll County and the Frederick County trash to Frederick County.

West said there are three other incinerators in the state, the latest one in the country being built 16 years ago in Montgomery County. Other locations include Baltimore city and Hartford County.

He spoke of the financial drain of the project, saying Carroll County's share of the project could build eight high schools; a figure drawn off the cost of the recently opened Manchester Valley High School in Manchester.

The incinerator would cost an estimated $527 million to build. Frederick's share is $316 million (about 60 percent) and Carroll would pick up the remainder. The incinerator would be big enough to burn 1,500 tons per day, and is expected to open by 2015.

"It will be without a doubt the biggest capital investment the county would make, and it's not even going to be in Carroll County," West said.

Trash must be looked at as a resource, and treated as a commodity, West urged.

The proposed incinerator site is the McKinney Industrial Center off Md. Route 85 in Frederick.

The project, to be built by Wheelabrator Technologies, based in Hampton, N.H., is going through design and permitting process, which could take several years.

The citizens' council invited West and Evans to learn more about what's going on with the project.

"We're really about education," said Deb Whittle, president of the citizens' council. "We don't have an agenda of any sort."

She said having speakers about issues going on in the area fit in with the group's mission to encourage people to be active in their community.

Bill Barnes of Taylorsville said he learned a little from the gathering, where the individual costs were broken down.

"I'd really like to hear the other side, hear the pros as for what it's going to save the county," said fellow resident Bill Knill.