Lawmakers OK 10-year trash plan, landfill study
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County lawmakers have approved a 10year solid waste management plan that, among other things, calls for a study to determine whether a landfill can be sited within the county.
The resolution approving the plan was adopted unanimously by the county Legislature on Tuesday. The plan has been in the making for years and lays out proposals for the county to deal with the solid waste generated within its borders over the next decade.
A key component of that plan is how the county will handle the disposal of the nearly 140,000 tons of garbage generated by county residents.
The approved plan calls for the Resource Recovery Agency to hire a consultant to evaluate again the possibility of permitting
and constructing a landfill or waste-to-energy plant in the county.
The idea of siting a landfill in the county has been debated for decades. In 2012, the Resource Recovery Agency released a list of 96 properties large enough for a landfill. That list was winnowed down to 17 potential sites, although whether any of those potential sites remain viable is uncertain.
The need to find a new solution for the county’s solid waste disposal has taken on a sense of urgency with the expected closure of the Seneca Meadows Landfill, where the county now carts its solid waste
for disposal.
That landfill, located nearly 250 miles away in the town of Waterloo, in Seneca County, is slated to close in 2025.
Prior to approving the Ulster County plan Tuesday, lawmakers included language in their resolution to codify what they said was the agency’s commitment “to review zerowaste strategies and alternative technologies not covered in the Local Solid Waste Management Plan.”
The push for a more aggressive zero-waste initiative has been a point of contention between legislators who want the county to move more quickly toward that goal and Resource Recovery Agency officials who don’t see the same timeline for implementing
those strategies. Legislator Manna Jo Greene, D-Rosendale, said during a Democratic caucus before Tuesday’s meeting that some legislators continue to have concerns about the solid waste plan but believe it is important to adopt it now and address issues as they arise.
In addition to looking at potentially siting a landfill within the county’s borders, the management plan also calls on the agency to develop concepts for a yearround household hazardous waste center, evaluate conversion of the agency’s current administration building in the town of Ulster to an education center, and secure approval and funding to construct a residential waste drop-off center in the town of Ulster.