BFI Says Choice is Clear: 1,000 Trucks or One Train.

Business Editors

LINDEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 13, 2001

The plan to move New York City garbage by train will remove 1,000 garbage trucks from New Jersey highways and local roads each day, representatives of BFI Transfer Systems of New Jersey told the Union County Board of Freeholders at a public hearing in Linden on Monday, August 13.

The hearing was held as part of Union County's response to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert Shinn's request for more information on the BFI proposal to move New York household garbage by barge to a transfer facility in Linden, load it into sealed, steel containers, and place the containers on rail cars for shipment to landfills in South Carolina and Georgia.

"On November 30, 2000, you adopted this plan amendment for very sound public policy reasons," BFI Transportation Manager David Iverson told the Freeholders. "For these same sound public policy reasons, we hope you will reaffirm your support of this plan amendment tonight."

"It significantly improves the quality of life for people in Union County and its neighboring counties by taking about 1,000 garbage-hauling trucks off the roads everyday. This will reduce traffic congestion, and the cost associated with the wear and tear on county, state and federal highways. Moreover, it will have significant air quality benefits for Union County and the region," Iverson said.

Iverson noted that the train originating from the Linden facility will not be the first train carrying trash in similar containers in New Jersey. Almost every day, for almost four years, a train varying in length from 4,300 feet to 8,100 feet has traveled along the Lehigh Line through Central New Jersey, carrying household garbage from New York and Massachusetts.

"It is unlikely that anyone other than the most fanatical rail enthusiast even knows that the train is there," Iverson said. "Like our proposed train, it operates seamlessly, unobtrusively and transparently through New Jersey from points to the north and on to southern destinations."

Chris Mills, a partner in the Washington, DC, law firm of Slover and Loftus who specializes in transportation issues, briefed the Freeholders on of the commerce clause of the US Constitution, which prohibits states from interfering in interstate commerce, and on the numerous legal rulings that have deemed the interstate transportation of garbage to be considered commerce.

"In other words, New Jersey can't stop the New York trucks," Iverson said.

He noted that New Jersey itself is the second-largest exporter of solid waste in the United States, disposing of more than 35% of its own garbage in landfills in other states.

"If there were a way - and there is not - to close New Jersey's borders to New York waste, whatever device New Jersey employed could also be used by neighboring states to close their borders to New Jersey waste," he said.

In addressing the air quality issue raised by DEP, Iverson was joined by consulting engineer George Cascino, who discussed the results of a study comparing the air quality impact of the BFI plan with the air quality impact of the existing methods of disposing of the New York City waste. These include truck transport to several New Jersey transfer stations for transportation to out-of-state landfills by tractor-trailer, and incineration at the resource recovery facility in Newark.

Cascino said the trucks and incineration currently produce more than three times as much NOx and VOC ozone precursors, eighteen times as much carbon dioxide and eight times as much fine particulate matter as the BFI train proposal would produce.

"The use of (the BFI) facility will result in a reduction of (NOx and VOCs) ozone precursors by almost 600 tons per year...a reduction of carbon monoxide by almost 900 tons per year...(and) a reduction of about 70 tons per year of (fine particulate matter)," Cascino reported.

In his statement, Iverson addressed all of the other matters raised in Commissioner Shinn's letter asking the Freeholders to review the project. These include:

-- Facility size: Iverson clarified that BFI was seeking

inclusion in Union County's Solid Waste Management Plan for a

permitted daily tonnage limit of 10,000 tons per day, not

15,000 tons per day, which is the design capacity of the

Linden plant.

"We...understand that should there be any desire, need or

reason to increase that (10,000) number, we will be required

to appear before the Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New

Jersey DEP to seek a major modification to our permit

reflecting such a change," he said.

-- Operational logistics: Iverson summarized BFI's written response to the
Commissioner's letter contains a detailed narrative on the BFI facility's
operation plan.

-- Rail Transportation to and from the Linden facility: Iverson explained that
the BFI unit train will be assembled on the BFI site and will not require the
use of the switching operations at Oak Island, Port Reading or other railroad
yards. He discussed the inspection process for the containers and the train
cars.

"Our train will operate in the same manner as the trains

that move through New Jersey today, every day, including the

mile-long "Orange Blossom Special", that delivers juice to

the Northeast; the trains carrying containers to and from the

port; the inbound auto parts trains and outbound loads of

vehicles departing from Linden, Metuchen and Edison. It will

move along the same tracks that support countless New Jersey

industries involved in pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals,"

he said.

"Our train will move over at-grade crossings just as other

trains do today. The time a crossing is blocked will

typically be just a little longer than a wait at a busy

street intersection requiring more than one cycle of a

traffic light," Iverson said.

"Our train will be no more disruptive to the pipelines that

lay alongside and underneath the railroad's right-of-way than

any other train...The reason the pipelines seek easements or

licenses from the railroads because it is categorically the

safest place to put the pipeline, away from unchecked

activity and the general public."

-- Contingency plans for addressing facility disruptions: Iverson

said the facility would have backup equipment for each stage

of the process and a large supply of replacement parts, and

planned to use one of the three daily shifts solely for

equipment maintenance.

"We have complete redundancy in every stage of the

operation," he said. "And the failsafe plan in the event of a

catastrophic event beyond our control is our ability to stop

accepting barges of waste from New York to prevent a build-up

of waste in our facility," he said.

-- Adequacy of waterfront locations for barge storage: Iverson

said that the key to the successful operation of the facility

is constant movement of the garbage. "Our marine operation is

dynamic, and the management of barge movements is a large

component of those dynamics," he said.

"The towing and barge operation is subject to ongoing US

Coast Guard oversight and the amount of space available to

position barges is finite. To remain operational, we must

comply with the rules of the harbor, as enforced by the Coast

Guard," Iverson said.

"In accordance with these regulations, we will use the outer

bulkhead to position barges for return to New York City, but

we will not and cannot anchor empty barges outside of the

pier head line for extended periods. Once loaded barges move

into position on the bulkhead for unloading, they move

quickly through the facility, creating the empties needed

back in New York as soon as possible," he said.

-- Contingency plans addressing the interruption of rail service:

Iverson summarized the several contingency plans described in

the written remand. "Typically, rail service interruption is

resolved in a few hours," he said. "If an event renders our

usual routes unusable, the railroads can use other routes,

including those of competing railroads, until the problem is

resolved."

He noted that permits for both the enclosed barge unloading

facility (EBUF) and the intermodal container facility will

have statutory provisions regarding how long waste can be

kept on a floor or in containers on site. "Under most

circumstances, these permit provisions provide enough time

for to fix any rail problems. If the length of the disruption

exceeds our permitted options, we will stop receiving New

York City waste," he said.

-- Storage capacity for loaded trains: Iverson said the existing

track on site provided BFI with enough space to make up

outbound trains and break up inbound trains, but said that to

enhance that capacity, the line connecting the BFI facility to

the Chemical Coast line could be double-tracked.

He said BFI was currently working with the railroads to

develop additional track space that would have negligible

impact on the existing industries' private roads or on

existing rail access to the overall Tremley Point area.

-- Use of trucks for waste removal: Iverson said BFI had made a

commitment to Linden to use no trucks to move waste in and out

of the facility, even in emergency cases in which small

amounts of waste remained on the tipping floor.

-- Alternative landfills: Iverson said that in addition to the

Georgia and South Carolina landfills, BFI had presented a list

of other rail-accessible operations managed by Allied/BFI

throughout the United States.

"It is important for the Freeholders and Commissioner Shinn

to know that Allied Waste, BFI's parent company, is the

industry leader in long-haul movements of waste products by

rail. We have many landfills and millions of cubic yards of

available air space with rail access. If it ever becomes

necessary to reconsider our current primary destination

options, our portfolio of existing alternatives is

extensive," he said.

-- Impact of solid waste transport by rail: Iverson said BFI had

retained a traffic engineer to sample motor vehicle traffic at

strategic grade crossings, and drew on information available

to the public to calculate train speeds and the average time

those grade crossings might be blocked. "Our estimates

indicate that a train of 5,900 feet would block a crossing for

as little as two minutes or as long as about three-and-a-half

minutes, depending on train speed," he said.

"There are concerns over the potential of immobilized

emergency vehicles resulting from intersections occupied by

our train. This is an important concern. In fact, it is so

important we think it is unimaginable communities that grew

up around the railroad lines do not have plans acknowledging

at-grade crossing locations accompanied with plans to manage

emergency services around those crossings. The potential for

blocked crossings is ever present, and not a function of

whether our train is added to the existing rail traffic," he

said.

"I suggest that those who express concern about what OUR

train MIGHT do someday should be asking themselves what the

current plans are to cope with existing rail traffic and

emergency vehicles at these at-grade crossings. This test

must be administered and passed with the trains running

TODAY. The successful answers to this test will provide the

answers for any future traffic problems pertaining to all

trains, including ours," Iverson said.

-- Prevent release of solid waste floatables during

transportation and processing: Iverson noted that the fact

that the facility will be completely enclosed is a major

technological improvement in the control of stray litter. He

also described in detail the numerous back-up systems BFI has

created - including spill skirts, booms and skimmer boats - to

make sure no litter gets. in the water.

"We have promptly and forthrightly addressed all of Commissioner Shinn's concerns, just as we responded to your concerns and questions before you initially approved the plan amendment last November," Iverson said.

"If BFI was proposing to build a tomato canning facility, with its own requisite environmental issues with regard to permitting, on this industrial site in Linden, we would be welcomed with open arms by the entire community," he said.

"And if that facility was going to replace hundreds of trucks with the movement of a daily mile long train in and out of its plant, we would be embraced as a forward thinking company committed to environmental stewardship. There would be universal acceptance of such a plan and the plant. There would probably be a fight over which community, county, or state could provide the most incentives to secure the facility," Iverson said.

"But nobody roots for garbage, and we are not asking the Freeholders to do that tonight. What we are asking you to do is make the best quality of life decision for your constituents and the people in the neighboring counties.

"Sometimes, this requires tough choices. This one's easy: 1,000 trucks or one train," he said.