Serranos Urge Equity and Borough Self-Sufficiency in Handling of Waste

Bronx, NY, April 1, 2005- Today, Congressman José E. Serrano and State Senator José M. Serrano issued the following statement in response to threats by members of the City Council to hold up attempts to implement New York's solid waste export plan: 

“The Bronx has, for too long, been dumped on with garbage from other boroughs, while Upper Manhattan has been saddled with high volumes of truck traffic from waste haulers bound for out-of-state disposal sites.  There is, however, a sensible and equitable plan that would greatly reduce these practices.  The Department of Sanitation's Solid Waste Management Plan, while not perfect, would have a positive impact on the health of low-income communities currently burdened with high volumes of truck traffic.  Clearly, utilizing pre-existing Marine Transfer Stations to barge residential waste out of the city offers the greatest opportunity to reduce vehicle miles traveled through asthma-plagued communities and minimize diesel emissions in places like East Harlem and the South Bronx, neighborhoods along truck routes to out-of-state landfills and in-city transfer stations. 

“The waste export plan now before the council would help reduce pollution from trucks that pass through these neighborhoods through the use of nearby marine transfer stations and would lessen the reliance on truck-based solutions to our waste crisis.  For years, the South Bronx and East Harlem have suffered profound public health consequences as a result of the high volume of diesel trucks that pass through these neighborhoods on the way to private transfer stations in the Bronx and disposal sites beyond the city.  The results have been severe--these neighborhoods suffer from the highest asthma rates in the country.  The use of the existing marine transfer station system has the potential to greatly reduce the number of trucks on the road throughout the city, and greatly improve air quality in hard hit neighborhoods.

“While we strongly endorse the re-use of the marine transfer stations, we will firmly oppose any attempt to use these marine transfer stations to move trash from one borough to another.  The Bronx does not want, nor does it need, more trash from other boroughs, and Upper Manhattan does not need any more outbound waste-hauling trucks rumbling through its streets.  We fully support the SWMP's goal of equity and borough self-sufficiency in the handling of solid waste and the full utilization of marine transfer stations, valuable public assets that hold a solution to our waste crisis.  We strongly encourage the City Council to overcome the objection of a few and pass a plan that supports the goals of environmental justice, borough self-sufficiency, and waste reduction.” 

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