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East 91st Street Transfer Station in the news
Please read this front-page article, published today, in Our Town: “Fishy Business, Maloney Smells Chance to Stop Mayor’s Garbage Plant with Fish Study.” The article highlights that the city has “jumped the gun” on hosting bids to construct and reopen the MTS because the Army Corps of Engineers is still considering the city’s permit request and mitigation plan, which contains outdated information concerning the presence of striped bass, which are protected by federal law, in the East River. The article contains quotes from Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and State Senator Liz Krueger concerning the city’s attempts to short-circuit its responsibilities to protect the East River environment and our communities.

Make your voice heard by commenting to the Our Town news article online (ourtownny.com) and/or writing a Letter to the Editor of Our Town at ahouston@manhattanmedia.com, or Letters to the Editor, Our Town, 79 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10016.

Please contact Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (212)860-0606, Minna.Elias@mail.house.gov (address emails to Chief of Staff Minna Elias), State Senator Liz Krueger (212)490-9535, lkrueger@senate.state.ny.us (212)490-9555, and Assembly Member Micah Kellner, (212)860-4906, kellner@assembly.state.ny.us to thank them for their support in focusing the press’s attention on this significant issue and drawing attention to the devastating impact the proposed MTS will have on our community. Garbage dumps do not belong in residential neighborhoods.

February Community Update and  1/30/12 Chapin Meeting

The community meeting at The Chapin School on Monday, January 30th, 2012 organized by Residents for Sane Trash Solutions (RFSTS), a community based organization of volunteers which is fighting to stop the construction of the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station (MTS), drew well over 400 people from all walks of life. The response has been overwhelming, with an out pouring of financial support and many new volunteers.  At this meeting we provided an update on the City’s proposal to build a new and massive, 10 stories high industrial garbage plant in the middle of our densely populated community and provided informational material to help the residential neighborhoods of Yorkville and East Harlem continue the FIGHT.

KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT THE MTS

The proposed facility will have a huge presence in and on the East River. This industrial plant will operate 24 hours a day, six days a week and will process as much as 5,200 tons of garbage per day, causing an endless line of no less than 500 garbage trucks per day which will rumble through a densely-populated residential area to converge on the proposed site. The East River ecosystem has been revitalized as water quality has improved in recent years and this facility will have a significant impact on the marine life in the East River. The proposed site is adjacent to two large public housing developments, Holmes and Stanley Isaacs, and many high-rise residential buildings, as well as Asphalt Green, a sports complex that serves thousands of New York City children and adults every day. Download our KNOW THE FACTS flyer here and circulate this to your neighbors! Post this in your building lobby!

WRITE TO THE US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

Also reported at the Chapin meeting was the City’s move last week (click the link for the article in Crain’s ) to seek competitive bids to construct this massive maritime garbage transfer station (MTS) on the East River waterfront despite the City’s failure to secure the necessary permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) to move the project forward. The City cannot build the MTS without the permit from the ACE! The ACE is currently considering a permit request and mitigation plan by the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) to build the proposed garbage transfer station. The ACE indicates that the necessary data to complete its evaluation has not yet been submitted by the DSNY, and reiterates that the City’s application for an expanded “footprint” of almost two-acres on and in the East River is still pending. The Army Corps is a federal agency that should not have to defer to the DSNY’s promises, and they have asked the DSNY for more information before they reach a decision. RFSTS is submitting additional comments that oppose those permits.

The City cannot build the MTS without the permit from the ACE!

We urge everyone to write to the US Army Corps voicing their strong opposition and ask them to deny the permit! We suggest that you mail this letter through the US postal system. Click HERE for the contact information for the Army Corps of Engineers and a SAMPLE LETTER to the ACE

WRITE TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

In addition we strongly urge our community to let their voices be heard and write to our elected officials. Click HERE to download the list of elected officials

We have created a sample letter which can be sent via e-mail or regular mail to each of our elected officials. Let’s keep the pressure on our elected officials and tell them an industrial solid waste processing plant does not belong in a residential neighborhood!!!! Let’s hold them accountable!!! Click HERE to download the sample letter to our elected officials

WATCH TWO NEW IMPORTANT VIDEOS AND CIRCULATE THE LINKS TO YOUR NEIGHBORS

Stop the Garbage – click the link to watch our video and hear parents and kids speak out against the proposed East 91st Marine Transfer Station (MTS), which will be built adjacent to Asphalt Green and the East River in the densely populated communities of Yorkville and East Harlem. Learn about the potential dangers to children at the Asphalt Green recreational complex.

NYC Marine Transfer Stations – Tour of Locations ‎- click here to watch our video which features three existing Marine Transfer Stations in New York City that have been built in industrial neighborhoods. The proposed East 91st Street station is in a densely populated residential area of Manhattan, and the plant’s future access ramp bisects a busy children’s playground and athletic facility of Asphalt Green which serves more than a 100,000 visitors a year. The proposed new MTS on East 91st and the East River will be the only MTS located in a densely populated residential neighborhood, 100 feet from residential buildings and 280 feet from one of the largest middle and low income housing complexes in New York City, Stanley Isaacs and Holmes.

Spread the word and encourage your neighbors, businesses, residential buildings to join the fight in defeating this ill-conceived plan!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and Join Us in the fight to STOP the MTS!!!!!!!

 

Read the article in the NY Daily News about our community and why the MTS does NOT belong in ANY residential community :

“This will injure the health, safety and welfare of the people who live here,” says Sandra Christie, on the steering committee of Residents for Sane Trash Solutions. “The mayor has this smoking ban, but it’s ok for 500 garbage trucks to idle next to playing children? We don’t think it’s right. This will industrialize a very peaceful residential area. A city should protect its neighborhoods.”

Yorkville attracts families looking for peace and quiet | Best Places To Live In NY – New York Daily News

bestplaces.nydailynews.com By Jason Sheftell Friday, January 6th 2012, 11:28 AM

THE RECENT COURT DECISION

You may have heard about the recent decision of a New York appeals court regarding the proposed MTS (Marine Transfer Station). The court rejected the Gracie Point Community Council’s challenge to permits for the construction and operation of the proposed MTS facility on East 91st Street and the East River.

The court never considers whether the proposed facility will meet the legal standards for public health and safety, or for environmental protection. Instead, the court concludes only that it must defer to the State Department of Environmental Protection, which in turn deferred to the promises made by the Department of Sanitation (DSNY). The DSNY has promised that when the proposed facility is built and operating, it will satisfy standards for public safety, health and environmental protection.

So, in essence, our state courts and environmental regulators have decided that the same people who are proposing this facility–the DSNY–should be trusted for now to ensure that our residential neighborhood is protected. The courts apparently are unwilling to listen to evidence to the contrary until after the facility has been built, and the damage to our community is occurring.

WHAT CAN WE DO NOW !

Although we are disappointed by the Court’s decision, the fight is far from over!

RFSTS (Residents for Sane Trash Solutions) is pursuing numerous other avenues for relief.

  • For example, the DSNY must obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before building the almost two-acre MTS in the East River. The Army Corps is a federal agency that should not have to defer to the DSNY’s promises, and they have asked the DSNY for more information before they reach a decision. RFSTS is submitting additional comments that oppose those permits.

We encourage you to write to the Army Corps expressing your opposition as well. Click here for the contact information for the Army Corps of Engineers and a sample letter.

  • RFSTS is also studying the cost of this proposed facility, which has mushroomed from $55 million to $125 million, and is privately expected to be far greater. Surely the responsible elected officials in our City will recognize that building this huge new facility capable of handling more than 5,000 tons of garbage is bad policy at a time of increasing budget problems for the City. This is particularly true since the proposed MTS will ship the garbage to landfills that have not even been identified yet, that are increasingly costly, and that are environmentally unsound in any event.
  • RFSTS will continue to advocate for more sane solutions to Manhattan’s trash problems. Contrary to a statement in the court’s decision, most of Manhattan’s residential trash is NOT being carried to other boroughs for shipment by long-haul trucks to landfills out of state.
  • Much of the residential garbage is now being shipped directly to a “waste-to-energy” facility out of state.
  • Our City leaders must advocate for more sane solutions, rather than building an unnecessary facility that relies on the idea of outdated landfill repositories for trash. We will hold them accountable if they do not.

Please join RFSTS and the numerous elected officials (see below) who will continue to fight this misguided trash facility in our residential neighborhood.

Please write to your elected officials at the above e-mail addresses and urge them to continue to oppose the MTS and support our community in this fight.

If you would like to help, please consider a donation to enable RFSTS to have the resources to continue this fight – click here to make a donation by credit card or check or if you would like to volunteer or sign up for our newsletter contact us by e-mail: info@sanetrash.org

With your help, we can and will prevail!

Dear Neighbor:

If you are a first-time visitor to our web site, welcome. If you have visited our web site previously, you may notice our new look. However, our mission and goals remain the same. We are Residents for Sane Trash Solutions, Inc., a group of concerned neighborhood residents from East Harlem and Yorkville, as well as businesses, and residential buildings who oppose New York City’s plan to construct a new and enlarged garbage processing facility (MTS-Marine Transfer Station) at East 91st Street and the East River.

The expenditure of scarce taxpayer dollars on this prohibitively expensive garbage plant is scandalous. Its location on the East River estuary and the plans the City has for the building’s footprint make it an engineering nightmare and a budget-busting boondoggle. Originally projected to cost $55 million that number has now risen to $125 million with reliable estimates putting it closer to $300 million. At a time when the City is cutting services and laying off teachers this proposed waste of money makes this an issue of citywide importance, not just neighborhood concern.

THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER !

WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT IF THE COMMUNITY JOINS TOGETHER WE CAN PREVENT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS  EXCESSIVELY EXPENSIVE AND ILL CONCEIVED PROJECT !

WE ARE ACTIVELY FUNDRAISING SO THAT WE WILL HAVE THE RESOURCES NECESSARY TO FIGHT TO PRESERVE OUR COMMUNITY AND THE UNIQUE QUALITY OF LIFE THAT WE PRESENTLY ENJOY.     

WE INVITE YOU TO EXPLORE OUR WEBSITE :

  • Check ABOUT & NEWS to learn more about our group and our work to date.
  • Go to TAKE ACTION! for information on what you can do to continue the fight to oppose the MTS.
  • If you wish to DONATE please click the button in the right column to use our secure credit card facility or go to the page for further information on making a contribution by check  to support our efforts and enable us to have the resources necessary to  continue this fight.
  • You may also contact us at info@sanetrash.org to discuss a contribution to this very important cause or for more information on our association and how you can help.
  • If you wish to add your name to our mailing list to receive updates, click the SIGN UP widget in the right column.  

My colleagues on the steering committee all join me in urging you to join us in this very important fight!

Yours sincerely,  

Jed Garfield, President, Residents for Sane Trash Solutions, Inc.