Sanchez questions racial equity plan strategies and marine transfer stations
Sanchez asks how DSNY plans to implement the racial equity plan's strategies on distributing waste transfer operations and using solid waste contracts. Anderson says DSNY is committed to using marine transfer stations for commercial waste after commercial waste zones are fully implemented.
Okay, going back to our questions.
So the mayor's racial equity plan highlights two strategies to address waste transfer infrastructure inequities.
born by overburdened communities.
Thank you.
The first strategy would be to distribute waste transfer operations such that underutilized stations become more utilized.
The second would leverage solid waste management contracts as opportunities to produce more distribution of waste transfer contracts.
How does the department plan to implement these strategies and where can the council help?
Yeah, so I think in part one of the things that we have long been talking about in these hearings is the use of our marine transfer stations for commercial waste.
That's my next question.
Which as we, I think, discussed maybe in July, we are fully committed to that so long as we can overcome the real financial obstacles there
and are planning to do so following the complete implementation of commercial waste zones at the end of next calendar year, which when we first started having these conversations seemed very far away but is now.
15 months, which is not that far.
So I think that's the most important thing we can do there is by using excess capacity at specifically the 91st and Southwest Brooklyn Marine Transfer Stations.
As far as using our procurements to
to reduce the capacity in overburdened districts.
I think that's something that as our current set of waste export contracts starts to expire,
Because these were all 20-year contracts, we certainly will look at as one of many goals that we want to try to achieve.
The challenge, again, there are not large waste transfer stations in other neighborhoods, and building a new waste transfer station in New York City
is not possible at this moment because of various zoning regulations and permitting requirements.
And so, you know, just to be frank, unless we were to try to build a new municipal waste transfer station and go through the ULERT process for siting and land acquisition,
I don't see a new large transfer station that services Department of Sanitation waste opening at any time soon.