New York City Council Passes Controversial Waste Bill
A long-awaited—and often times contentious—bill that would cap the amount of waste handled by three New York City communities passed by a City Council vote of 32-13 this week.
SEATTLE (Waste 360): A long-awaited—and often times contentious—bill that would cap the amount of waste handled by three New York City communities passed by a City Council vote of 32-13 this week.
The Intro 157 legislation, known as the “waste equity bill,” targets North Brooklyn, South Bronx and Southeast Queens—home to 26 of the city’s 38 waste transfer stations.
Supporters of the legislation, including Council Member Antonio Reynoso, lead sponsor of the bill, Teamsters Local 813 and other advocacy organizations, say low-income communities of color have been “overburdened” and currently handle a staggeringly disproportionate amount of the city’s waste.
Sean Campbell, president of Teamsters Local 813, tells Waste360 that though he supports the bill, he doesn’t think the current legislation goes quite far enough.
“But I’m happy that something is being done because there are three different neighborhoods that the majority of waste goes to, and I definitely think it’s unfair,” he explains. “I think that everybody in every single neighborhood creates waste, and I think it should be distributed a little more evenly.”
Campbell says this legislation would in effect “keep things in check” and put a cap on the waste that is brought into these particular neighborhoods.
Advocates of the bill maintain the residents in these districts are exposed to dangerous truck traffic, elevated air pollution and hazardous environmental impacts. They also say that under the current system, these overburdened communities have the permitted capacity to accept even more trash than they already do.
However, opponents of the bill don’t see it that way.
Courtesy: https://waste360.com