NSWMA Testifies Against NYC Waste Plan

Lynn Schenkman

Washington, D.C. --The National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) presented testimony Oct. 22 to the New York City Council Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste disagreeing with new regulations that limit the expansion of existing transfer stations and the construction of new transfer stations. NSWMA says the Department of Sanitation (DOS) issued the regulations even though disposal capacity in New York City is inadequate to satisfy current waste generation, let alone future increases.

NSWMA also says the city is proposing these regulations based on inaccurate DOS data that put the cost of residential waste disposal at $105 per ton in 2002 when DOS data and testimony rated waste disposal at $65 per ton in 2002. NSWMA says the city is using this information to promote the funding of eight DOS marine transfer stations, which could cost approximately $400 million and ultimately raise prices for private-sector customers. NSWMA testified that its members were the companies that invested millions of dollars in transfer station facilities throughout the city, which allowed the Fresh Kills landfill to close in 2001.