New York City's Long Term Trash Export Program

I'm making a guess as to how this landfill crisis started. In September, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of the City of New York, totally revamped the city's solid waste management plan.

In 2006 Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed legislation establishing a new solid waste management plan, which will use barges and trains to export 90% of the city’s 12,000 daily tons of residential trash. Under the previous scheme trucks and tractor-trailers were used for 84% of the trash

Translated: Too much truck traffic hauling trash out of New York. Solution: Export it by rail and barge to remote locations. Here are some excerpts of the plan:

*Reducing the City’s dependence on transport by transfer trailer to disposal sites is a priority. Some 93% of all truck-transferred DSNY-managed Waste is disposed in landfills and most of the landfills under contract are within a radius of 200 miles of the City. A combination of factors is causing the depletion of this capacity and an increase in disposal price. The recent re-bidding of some Interim Export contracts that rely on truck transport to landfills has reflected an average increase of 19% over the initial contract prices.

* Remote disposal capacity remains available, but truck-based transfer to these sites is not economically viable.

* Developing a barge/rail transport system capable of accessing this remote capacity could offset potential increases in disposal costs.

* Developing a long-term solution should be equitable to the greatest extent possible.

* Any long-term solution should be able to be implemented without causing significant adverse impact

When Mayor Bloomberg signed that document in September of 2006, he created a tremendous opportunity for landfill and waste disposal interests. The only requirement was being able to receive the trash. If a landfill had a railhead so much the better. If it was in short commuting distance from a port to receive barge traffic that would be good too.

Conecuh Woods is close to a railhead in Range,Alabama and is only 72 miles from the Port of Pensacola and 79 miles from the Port of Mobile. Here's a scenario:

You are a landfill entrepreneur, think about it, 12,000 tons of trash a day flowing in by barge and rail from New York City. It makes you want to salivate.My God all that money! It reminds one of the Dire Straits songs: Money for Nothing. When you listen to song change the chorus to ...money for nothing and the trash is free.

Until next time...