An Electronic Newsletter
of EEA's Environmental Consulting Activities
Winter 2003
EEA, Inc.
55 Hilton Avenue
Garden City, New York
(516) 746-4400
(212) 227-3200
(800) 459-5533
with additional New York offices in:
Stony Brook
(631) 751-4600
Altamont
(518) 861-8586
e-mail addresses:
General:
mailto:eea@eeaconsultants.com
Individual:
First initial and last name
@eeaconsultants.com
EEA services include
Phase I ESAs, Haz-Mat
Testing and Remediation, Wetlands
Delineation
and Creation, Natural
Resources Inventories,
Marine Ecology Studies,
Air Quality and Noise
studies, and Environmental Management
System (ISO 14000) implementation.
Visit our web site at
http://www.eeaconsultants.com/
For information or
quotes contact:
Phase I ESAs
Richard
Fasciani
Phase II/III Haz-Mat
Testing and Remediation
Nicholas
Recchia, CPG
Dredge Management Testing
Jeffrey Shelkey
EAS/EIS Studies
Janet Collura
Wetlands Studies and
Design
Laura Schwanof,
RLA
Marine Ecology
Teresa Rotunno
Terrestrial Ecology
Denise Harrington
Air Quality and Noise
Victor Fahrer,
P.E.
Environmental Management Systems
(ISO 14000)
Robert
Clifford
EEA, Inc. -
founded in 1979
Principals
Leland M.
Hairr, Ph.D.
President
Allen Serper,
M.S., P.E.
Vice President
Roy R. Stoecker,
Ph.D.
Vice President
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NEW
YORK CITY PRODUCES 15,000 TONS
PER DAY OF REFUSE
What Happens to This Small Mountain of Garbage?During
the 1960s, to the 70s, the City’s refuse was sent to numerous landfills in
Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens. Proposals to build incinerators in the
five boroughs to burn the waste as the landfills were being closed were
defeated by local opposition. During the 1990s, the last remaining landfill,
Fresh Kills on Staten Island, received most of the refuse. The refuse was
transported to Fresh Kills by barge. Eight marine transfer stations (MTS)
located in all five boroughs were the focal points for transshipment of the
refuse from trucks to barges.
Overall the system worked well because utilizing
barges
to move the refuse was far more economical and environ- mentally
advantageous than trucks.
Defining efficient and
acceptable ways to dispose of the refuse generated by the
nation's largest city is a complex consideration of technical,
public opinion, political and regulatory agencies' concerns. |
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However, in the year 2000, the Fresh Kills Landfill was closed and all refuse
was exported to disposal sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and upstate New York.
Refuse trucks picking up along New York City’s streets take the refuse to
various transfer stations where it is either loaded onto rail cars or, more
commonly, transferred to large trucks. The marine system, which had worked so
well for so long was effectively abandoned.
Recently, Mayor Bloomberg ordered the reinstatement of the marine system.
Under conceptual plans drawn up by the Department of Sanitation, up to eight of
the MTSs will be rebuilt to accommodate compactors and containers. The waste
will again be brought to the MTSs; but this time loaded into sealed containers,
which, in turn, will be placed on barges for shipment to out of state landfills.
The environmental benefits of reactivating the marine system are impressive with
predicted reductions in traffic, noise and air pollution. EEA’s
Involvement
For the past 15 years, EEA has been analyzing and solving
environmental problems in the disposal of refuse for New York City’s
Department of Sanitation. Special studies have included:
- plans for the
closure of Fresh Kills Landfill,
- design and installation of test controls for floating waste in the waters
around Fresh Kills, |
EEA Installing Test Boom to Control Floating Refuse
at Fresh Kills Landfill
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- simulation studies for the control of floating refuse at MTSs,
- protection of existing wetlands and plans to create new wetlands,
- evaluation of land disposal alternatives for dredge
spoils,
- performing Environmental Site Assessments for candidate refuse
handling sites throughout the City, and
- testing for methane gas emissions at
Fresh Kills. |
EEA's Research Vessel "The Kingfisher"
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In addition, for the past five years, EEA has been a part
of the consulting team, with HDR Engineering and Parsons Brinckerhoff
Engineers (PB), that produced the revised Solid Waste Management Plan
and Environmental Impact Statements for the City. Currently, HDR, PB and
EEA are evaluating further revisions needed to the City’s Solid Waste
Management Plan and revisions to the Environmental Impact Statement to
accommodate reactivation of the marine system. |
Watch for the upcoming Spring 2003 Edition of Insights.
Featuring: "Look Offshore For Future Siting of Wind Electric
Generators" and EEA's involvement.
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