John Minchillo / AP
A Brookhaven Town environmental committee has rejected the proposed expansion of an ash landfill to handle the growing solid waste crisis on Long Island.
The Brookhaven landfill is expected to reach capacity by 2024. The committee recommended in a report released Friday that the landfill be closed at or before then. Instead, they said the town should outsource solid waste collection and disposal to a private industry while the town retains fiscal and regulatory control over the process.
“This would be a positive economic gain for Long Island. Instead of exporting Long Island dollars, the dollars stay in Long Island,” the report said. “Long Island not only maintains efficient-cost disposal but also benefits from new jobs, new lower cost of aggregate to be used in construction and created a circular waste economy.”