Long Island has a trash problem, according to environmental and community advocates. However, they don’t agree what should be done about it.
The Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) endorsed this week trucking in over 1,900 tons per day of construction and demolition debris to a waste transfer station proposed in Medford. The trash would then be hauled away by railway. It’s one of three transfer stations proposed, including Brentwood and Yaphank. But CCE does not support the other two because of potential health hazards.
Progressive grassroot organizations, including the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, are concerned that the transfer station, as well as two other similar proposals in Suffolk County, disproportionately affect low-income and communities of color. They call for the Town of Brookhaven to consider environmental justice in their approval process of permitting what to do with trash in central Suffolk County when the Brookhaven Landfill is expe
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.”