The first of two in-person public hearings on a $90,000 waste reduction study being conducted by Westchester County was held at the County Center in White Plains on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
About 20 Westchester residents attended the public meeting, hosted by the county’s Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) and Barton & Loguidice, the consulting firm assisting DEF with the project.
The six-month study is expected to have its first report next month, identifying waste reduction strategies for the next 10 years. The goal is to meet or exceed the New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation solid waste management plan of reaching 85 percent conversion [to reduce landfilling and combustion] by the year 2050 .
Lou Vetrone, First Deputy Commissioner of the county’s Department of Environmental Facilities, said the key goals to reducing waste are promoting recycling and composting, lessening the county’s carbon footprint and fostering community participation in the plan.
Senior Associate at Barton & Loguidice Luann Meyer told attendees that those leading the study at the firm have 40 years of experience in zero waste, waste reduction, and local solid waste management planning.
However, some residents are still voicing concerns about the study, including uncertainty on the study’s methodology and data, as well as a lack of focus on the WIN Waste Westchester waste-to-energy facility incinerator in Peekskill.
Attendees share views on waste and recycling
Courtney Williams, a Peekskill resident and founder of Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions (WASS), said they needed to set a goal to end incineration. She added that it was “fiscally foolish” to think the incinerator would last forever.
“This can has been kicked down the road for 41 years,” Williams said. “This incinerator is right next door to Indian Point nuclear power plant, another location that people did not think was ever going to close and then it did. And everybody was caught with their pants down and now we don’t have a tax base and we are a de facto nuclear waste dump.”
Caitlin Chang, a Hastings-on-Hudson resident, questioned how the study could incentivize waste source reduction. She said that it is too easy, convenient, and cheap to throw things, such as recyclables, in the garbage and that needs to change so that people are incentivized to dispose of such waste in a responsible way.
“Incineration itself is not cheap, but the county subsidizes the fiscal cost,” Chang said. “Who is paying the real price though? Clearly it is the residents of Peekskill with higher rates of asthma and other adverse health impacts.”
WIN Waste’s Senior Director of Communications Mary Urban said in a statement that truly sustainable waste management includes composting, recycling, recovering and reducing. When those methods are done perfectly, there will still be a significant need for sustainable waste disposal, she said.
“WIN Waste proudly converts 630,000 tons of post-recycled waste into renewable electricity every year,” Urban told the Peekskill Herald. “By recovering energy from waste, we eliminate the need for more than 25,000 tractor-trailers of waste traveling to and from distant landfills, thereby reducing traffic-related air pollution and methane from landfills.”
Urban said a recent air quality impact analysis, conducted as part of the facility’s Title V permitting process, demonstrates the facility is significantly below the unsafe air quality levels set by the state to protect human health and the environment.
She also shared that the average impact of greenhouse gas co-pollutants from the facility on disadvantaged communities is less than 0.5 percent of state air quality standards.
“The WIN Waste Westchester facility is part of the solution, and we appreciate being one of Westchester County’s sustainable waste solutions,” Urban said. “We will continue to support waste-reduction initiatives in the communities we serve while safely and reliably disposing of waste and being an economic driver for the city.”
Irvington resident Lisa Antonelli, a member of Irvington Green’s steering committee, suggested increasing tipping fees for the incinerator [to pay for transporting, recycling or incinerating waste] and giving that incremental money to Peekskill residents. She also wanted the county to ban plastic, single-use utensils in favor of Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)-compostable, single-use service ware.
Other requests by attendees included repurposing waste into soil; implementation of a pay-to-throw program; and calling it not “waste” but “resources.” Attendees also shared gratitude for the opportunity to speak and for programs that have helped the county reduce waste by 27 percent since 2005.
Attendees request more information and accessibility
Several attendees commented that they felt like they didn’t know what they were commenting on, in part due to lack of information sessions about the study’s methodology, metrics and data, and questioned how they will implement findings.
Ellen Weininger, Educational Outreach Coordinator at Grassroots Environmental Education, said she felt like she was commenting on a “black hole.” She said there should be accessible and hybrid information sessions in the evenings, as well as material that is translated for non-English-speaking residents.
Leila Goldmark, an environmental attorney in Croton, said that WASS, which requested the study, was excited after the county included money in the budget for a study, but was disappointed that it was not a zero-waste study.
“We’re being asked to come to a hearing for a study where the public had no input on the scope,” Goldmark said. “That’s something we brought up with the county in December. There was no opportunity for the public to be part of the scoping.”
WASS Founder Courtney Williams took issue with the county’s second public input session on March 12 occurring at the same time as WASS’s Zero Waste Task Force meeting. She proposed a partnership with WASS to have a hybrid event that would allow the county to reach more people.
Vetrone of DEF and Luann Meyer of Barton & Loguidice each told the Herald they were not authorized to give comment.
In a statement on Feb. 28, County Communications Director Catherine Cioffi said, “We sincerely appreciate everyone who attended the recent meeting and shared their public comments — your input is invaluable, and we are actively listening.”
DEF’s second public input session will be on March 12, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Westchester County Center.
Asked if the county was considering making the March 12 meeting hybrid so it could be attended in person or virtually online, Cioffi said, “The second public hearing is set as is.”
For more information about the second public input session, including how to pre-register to speak or submit written comments, click here.
