Re: [GreenYes] NYC Waste Plan update

["Steve Hammer" <shammer@wastesaver.com>]

Here's the basic elements of New York's new waste "disposal" plan.  I say
that because it's really a back-end plan, rather than dealing with diversion
issues.

My guess is advocates will look on the plan as a victory, since it includes
elements many have been wanting for years:

1)  City will retrofit and rely on eight existing "marine transfer stations"
to move waste around, getting it off our roads.  (MTS's were originally used
to accept waste which was barged to Fresh Kills landfill.  MTS' will be
retrofitted to include compaction equipment.  Containers will be loaded onto
flat barges, and then shipped to facilities which can offload them for final
transport via truck, rail, or ocean going barge.  Bloomberg assumes that
this will maximize Sanitation's ability to find disposal capacity.  Said
that the world is our oyster -- we'll go with whoever offers the best
disposal deal.  Based on current disposal rates, City will generate 560
containers per day, which would create a train 187 rail cars long, or fill
up 2 large cargo ships per day.

2) Goal of closing existing 25-30 land-based transfer stations in the city,
all of which are operated by private vendors.  Currently all residential and
commercial waste passes through these facilities; taking residential waste
off the table doesn't necessarily gurarantee, however, that commercial waste
will flow through MTSs.  (Most of it did up until the late 80's, when the
city raised prices to try to preserve disposal capacity at Fresh Kills.)

3)  Says that incineration is basically off the table in NYC for political
reasons, although he believes it is a viable/acceptable technology.


Steve Hammer
shammer@wastesaver.com



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