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Date: 10/3/2023
WARE — The Ware Board of Health hosted a Sept. 27 public hearing on the proposed expansion of the ReSource Waste Services facility at 198 East St. The hearing took place at Ware Junior-Senior High School.
The initial session focused on traffic and transportation issues, material processing and expansion plans.
The board must render a final decision by Oct. 26, with further hearings slated until the deadline.
The Board of Health is tasked with granting a site assignment or suitability for a larger facility and ensuring the site poses no danger to the community. The board reviewed the final details and construction plans.
The plans were scrutinized by a peer review committee on behalf of the town. Arthur Kreiger of Anderson and Kreiger served as the hearing office. Board of Health Chair Jennifer McMartin led the session.
The facility occupies 8.9 acres of a 25.1-acre parcel and processes and recycles construction and demolition debris (C&D) materials. The plans are to modify the site, increase material processing and accept street-sweepings, catch basin residuals and bulky waste.
The proposed weekday operational hours would extend by two hours to 6 p.m., with Saturday hours remaining unchanged. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has endorsed the proposal, deeming the location suitable for the modification.
Copies of related documents referencing a Department of Environmental Protections Report, are available at the Ware Board of Health Office, the local library and the town’s official website. Residents had until Sept. 22 to submit their written comments.
John Farese of ReSource Waste Management discussed the proposed expansion of the Ware facility. With landfills shutting down in Massachusetts over the past decade, the company has found disposal sites farther away, mainly in Virginia and Ohio.
Farese explained the need for expansion, “Currently, we have three facilities that would come to the Ware facility. After recyclable materials like wood, metal and plastic are separated, the non-recyclable waste is disposed of in landfills.
With limited landfills in Massachusetts, the company needs additional space to store material eventually shipped to Ohio. “This expansion is just for our own material,” stated Farese. “And it would come in tractor-trailers versus smaller trucks.”
The transported waste moves by rail to the out-of-state landfills.
Regarding physical modifications, Farese elaborated that the company plans a two-phase expansion. The first phase involves minimal change, but the second phase includes expanding the building by 50 feet and adding additional rail lines for more storage.
Farese highlighted community benefits, saying “We did a host agreement about a year ago with the selectmen, and the town ends up getting a host fee from us once the expansion is done.”
The facility will provide two “bulky days” a year, allowing residents to dispose of large items. An additional feature will be a household hazardous waste day, where residents can dispose of chemicals, paint and other dangerous materials.
Farese discussed challenges and commented on the recycling industry’s struggles, notably with China accepting fewer recyclable materials. The recycling market also experienced difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We struggled a little bit in 2022. Many of the rail workers ended up with COVID-19, causing delays in transportation. Using rail is preferred as it has a lower carbon footprint than trucks,” Farese added.
Hearing focused on facility and transportation
Stephen E. Wright, of Sanborn Head & Associates, provided an overview of ReSource’s expansion plans and transportation needs. For the town of Ware, attorney Jeffrey T. Blake’s questioning centered on hours, payloads, rail and truck movements, and types of debris and the amounts processed daily.
The expansion was expected to commence by mid-2024, and the second phase potentially in early 2026.
ReSource purchased the facility in 2019 and was under two previous ownerships. Trucks enter the facility from Route 9 for an initial weigh-in before unloading. State property and existing railroad lines border the property.
Four rail spurs service the facility, with trains arriving to pick up waste material. The material is primarily shipped to an Ohio dump. Generally, concrete does not enter the facility and is stored outside with small amounts of asphalt.
The asphalt and concrete are grounded down around three times annually. The current cargo at the facility is 750 tons per day or 214,500 tons per year. Trucks enter through three large doors with another in reserve.
Railcars enter through a loading bay and typically hold 100 tons on average. Residual materials are classified as 3 inches in size or more and less than 3 inches C&D residual.
Dump trucks only deliver larger materials. A small percentage of material received is unprocessed C&D or third-party waste. Excavators and loaders load the materials onto the rail cars.
Modifying the facility
In Stage 1, the material tonnage would increase to 1,125 tons per day or 310,625 tons annually. The hours of operation would increase to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or two additional hours daily. Weekend hours would remain in place.
The heavy equipment would stay at the current level. No rail line modifications are needed.
In Stage 2, the per day tonnage would climb to 1,440 or 393,200 annually. The building would increase by 9,000 square feet. Slight modifications to rail car storage to decrease daily trips. A retaining wall is also in the plans.
Floor plans showed a 50-by-180-foot expansion for the third-party materials with another loader to serve the proposed area. A rail track leads into the building, while a second is outside the bays.
Track 3 leads to the main rail line with the filled trains hauling seven to eight cars.