Contact: Colleen Roche/Jennifer Chait (212) 788-2958
Mayor's WINS Address on this
subject.
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today released a long-term waste management plan that will allow the City to close the Fresh Kills Landfill, as planned, on December 31, 2001. The plan, which calls for each borough to handle its own waste for export, will utilize the City's existing marine transfer stations and will add no additional truck traffic on City streets. Additionally this plan addresses the potential environmental concerns that arise with the daily exportation of residential waste and ensures public participation during the environmental review process. Joining the Mayor at today's announcement was Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Acting Commissioner Michael T. Carpinello.
The City will develop five waste export facilities to allow the Department of Sanitation to shift approximately 13,000 tons of solid waste, now disposed at Fresh Kills Landfill on a daily basis, to out-of-city disposal sites. The plan calls for:
The long-term plan is based on four key premises:
Commissioner Carpinello said, "As well as providing a solution to New York City's waste disposal needs, this plan establishes an equitable, borough-based approach which will allow for uninterrupted residential collection."
Under the plan, the use of the three enclosed barge-unloading facilities would entail no change in existing collection operations. Residential waste would continue to be delivered in collection vehicles to marine transfer stations and deposited into barges. These barges would be towed to the unloading destination to which it is assigned, rather than taken to the Fresh Kills Landfill. All waste handling operations (unloading and containerization) will be fully enclosed, with design features and environmental controls mitigating any potential air quality, odor and noise impacts on the surrounding environment.
The Mayor noted that this proposed plan is part of the City's long-term Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). In addition to the export of unrecycled waste, the SWMP includes increased City-wide recycling, waste prevention initiatives, additional composting of leaves and yard waste, and closure construction at the Fresh Kills Landfill. A draft modification to the plan has been prepared and is currently before the City Council.
As part of the SWMP, DSNY will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the City's Environmental Quality Review/State Environmental Quality Review Act to consider the proposed plan. The EIS will integrate generic and site-specific environmental reviews in a single document and thereby provide a broad evaluation of all feasible, long-term export alternatives available to the City. In addition, it will assess the environmental acceptability of the proposed in-City facilities and sites. The environmental review of the out-of-city facilities will be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the host jurisdictions. This environmental review process will provide opportunities for public participation and discussion of the overall environmental benefits of the plan compared to other alternative export strategies.
On May 29, 1996, Mayor Giuliani and Governor George E. Pataki announced that the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island would close by December 31, 2001. Subsequently, the State Legislature enacted Chapter 170 of the Laws of the State of New York requiring such closure. In operation for the past 50 years, Fresh Kills is currently the sole facility in the City for the disposal of residential waste.