Waste-To-Fuels Project Shelved

A waste-to-fuels project suggested for an industrial site in Stony Point has been discarded. The property owner, MBC Holdings and member Patrick Magee, pulled out of the project proposed by New Planet Energy, Rockland Legislator Harriet Cornell reported.

Now the future of the toxic waste site will be the focus of discussion during the Rockland County Legislature’s Environmental Committee Thursday.

Cornell praised local residents and environmentalists for their efforts in bringing attention to the many issues concerning the now-defunct project and the many issues surrounding it.

“Once again, we see that in Rockland County, grassroots efforts can lead to beneficial outcomes,” Cornell said. “While we don’t yet know the reason the property owner pulled out of the project, we do know that everyday citizens were awakened to serious environmental threats in their community – and they decided to do something about them. Working to bring positive change is a basic right in our democracy and I congratulate the activists for their efforts.”

New Planet Energy proposed building and operating a facility on a 39-acre site, once home to plastic company Kay Fries. It is an active Superfund site identified by the EPA as contaminated by hazardous waste.

New Planet Energy proposed to truck 4,500 tons of municipal solid waste from New York City and Westchester County to the site daily, a job that would require 200 trucks in and out daily.

New Planet said most of the waste would be converted into a fuel product or recycled off site; some trash would not fit either category and require disposal in a landfill. The company said its technology would divert 85 percent of what arrives at its facility away from landfills.

Some residents raised concerns about the amount of water the facility would use, the odors that would be created by the garbage, and the noise, pollution and traffic that would be caused by the trucks, among other issues.

Cornell and the Environmental Committee members still plan to welcome local activists who opposed the project to the meeting to make a presentation.

Activists now want the site on Holt Drive in Stony Point to be investigated by New York State and cleaned up. Further, they said, they want to see the site used to create sustainably-produced energy. Such a project would also serve as a clean ratable for Stony Point, they said.

The Environmental Committee will meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the legislature’s Chambers in the Allison-Parris County Office Building, 11 New Hempstead Road in New City.

PHOTO: Harriet Cornell/ Rockland County Legislature