During late 1991, the City of Albany received a permit from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, (DEC), for an “interim” landfill on Rapp Rd. in the City of Albany. One of the specific conditions of approval was that the City, on behalf of the ANSWERS solid waste management planning unit, proceed with the siting process for a long range landfill that would serve the disposal needs of the planning unit once the Rapp Rd. facility was closed. The planning unit includes most of Albany County and the City of Rensselaer. The ANSWERS Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP), previously prepared and adopted in accordance with State law, and approved by the DEC, proposed a long range landfill as the preferred disposal option for the planning unit. The first siting study, titled: Potential Landfill Sites Identification Report, was completed in May of 1991 and identified 15 potential sites (see attachment A), in the towns of Bethlehem, Coeymans, and Guilderland. The siting criteria that resulted in the selection of the 15 sites were based on DEC permitting requirements and included in the ANSWERS SWMP that was adopted in 1991. During the summer of 1991, public hearings were held in the three towns that contained the potential sites, in order to solicit specific input and comment on the proposed sites. A report issued in June of 1992, titled: Sites for Preliminary Investigation, narrowed the field to three sites that were chosen for on site survey work and soil/groundwater testing. These three sites are identified on attachment A as sites B 6, C-1, and C-2. Finally, the preferred site, located in the northeast section of the Town of Coeymans and known as site C-2, was chosen, based on a number of considerations. The site is fully described, along with the reasons for the selection, in a report issued in August of 1994 titled: ANSWERS Final Site Selection Report.
An initial landfill permit application for site C-2 was submitted to the DEC in late 1994. This submission triggered the start of a lengthy review process that will involve substantial opportunity for public participation by town officials, residents, and other interested parties. As part of this process, a public hearing on the scope of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was held on May 31, 1995. Since that time a proposed scope has been submitted to, and approved by, the DEC.
A legal action was commenced by the Town to halt the permitting process. The lawsuit was dismissed in its entirety in a Court decision dated January 7, 1996, and later affirmed in appellate courts in 1997-98, thereby allowing the siting process to proceed. A later legal action was commenced by the Town to prevent the City from issuing bonds to acquire the property until review had been completed under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. That action was successful, and the City is prevented from acquiring the property until review of the acquisition has been completed under SEQR. The City has continued to retain control over Site C-2 through extensions to the option agreements with the landowners. However, local residents recently brought another lawsuit challenging the ability of the City to enter into the last option extension agreement, and a decision is pending in that case.
Not all of the site specific engineering, design and other detailed information is currently available for public distribution, however, the following information can be provided at this time:
- The City of Albany is acting on behalf of the ANSWERS planning unit and, in this capacity, is required by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to proceed with the permitting process for Site C-2 pursuant to provisions contained in the Rapp Rd. Landfill operating permit.
- The facility is needed to provide solid waste disposal capacity for the planning unit as a whole and would satisfy a critical public need providing an essential public service. The proposal constitutes a regional solution to the common problem of solid waste management and disposal, that is facing local governments throughout the region.
- The proposed site contains about 363 acres of land, located west of the NYS Thruway, north of the Lafarge Cement plant, south of the Niagara Mohawk power line easement and east of Pictuary Rd. in an area zoned Industrial. See attachment B.
- Of the 363 acres only about 80 acres would actually be used for the landfill cell and accessory work areas. The vast majority of the site would remain wooded buffer, surrounding the site to insure that the facility is not visible from any home, roadway, or developed area.
- The site, being west of the NYS Thruway, is entirely outside of the Hudson River valley viewshed. No portion of the site would be visible from the river itself, from any vantage point from across the river, or from within the river valley. The design of the facility would be in accordance with all DEC requirements to avoid any impacts on the water quality of Coeymans Creek, (a tributary of the Hudson), which borders the western boundary of the site.
- The siting of a waste management facility such as this will involve substantial host community benefits that might include: free waste disposal for town residents, financial incentives to the town which could result in substantial property tax decreases, and other forms of mitigation to offset any impacts identified in the environmental review process. These host community benefits and mitigation measures will be negotiated and spelled out in detail during the DEC permit review process when substantive issues will need to be addressed.
- The site is characterized by uniform, clay soils, up to 200 feet thick, which makes the site a very desirable location based on the landfill siting criteria contained in the DEC’s Part 360 regulations for permitting solid waste management facilities. These same desirable soils, however, also mean the presence of regulated wetlands.
- Only local waste collection vehicles would be traveling directly to the site. All other waste would be processed at the Rapp Rd. processing center and transferred into covered trailers so as to minimize the number of vehicles and vehicle trips involved in transporting waste to the site.
- The transport vehicles would travel via the Thruway to the Selkirk exit, and then down NYS route 144 to the site entrance through an underpass beneath the Thruway. As a consequence, traffic impacts would be limited to a 2±-mile stretch of NYS Rt. 144.
- Limited hours of operation and other operating procedures, combined with the remote location and substantial wooded buffers, will dramatically reduce any impacts to the residents of the Town.
- Only two homes exist within 2000 feet of the proposed landfill cell area. Both are separated by wooded areas that would remain as buffer. The nearest home is approximately 1400 ft., or a quarter of a mile away on the other side of the Thruway.
- The landfill would be fully compatible with all local waste reduction and recycling programs. Only processed waste, remaining after recyclables are removed from the waste stream, would be disposed of at the facility.
More detailed information will be made available once the permit application and draft environmental impact statement are complete and submitted to the DEC for review.