A group of school board officials, parents and lawmakers sent letters to the Town of Islip on Long Island in opposition of a proposed waste transfer facility in Brentwood.
The plan is for the facility to handle over 1,500 tons per day of construction and demolition debris and over 800 tons of trash daily. The waste would be trucked in, processed, and then hauled off by rail.
Suffolk County Legislator Samuel Gonzalez says the “daily traffic disruption” to the facility will destroy the roads. He is also worried about the potential health impacts of having a dump in a residential community.
“At what cost? At the cost of our children? At the cost of, of health?" Gonzalez said. "Listen, I'm done. I'm tired. You know, it's not easy saying that we are one. Brentwood is number one in positive COVID cases. And so this district has just seen so much. We're tired. We don't care. Anything else going in that location is fine.”
County planners see the new transfer station as a solution to waste management in Central Suffolk. The Long Island Regional Planning Council has said there needs to be a region-wide plan to address the growing trash problem in the county.
