Throughout the hearing some in the auditorium shouted, “Just say no,” prompting the hearing official in charge of the New Bedford Board of Health meeting, Art Krieger, to warn the crowd to quiet down several times.
The crowd was there to hear discussion on a proposal by South Coast Renewables to build a new facility that would handle and sort around 1,500 tons of solid waste per day, before it’s sent out for destruction or recycling elsewhere.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection gave its approval to the trash transfer station in July. Throughout August, the city Board of Health hosted a series of public hearings at Casimir Pulaski Elementary School to get public comment and to discuss the potential health and environmental impacts of such a facility.
At Tuesday’s hearing, South Coast Renewables, formerly known as Parallel Products, called on various experts to talk about traffic congestion studies and explain the strategies that would be used by the company to mitigate car queuing near the facility.
Garrett Tunison, an environmental scientist contracted by South Coast Renewables, explained his research that found the facility would not create excessive noise pollution that would impact wildlife — one of several issues environmental groups had previously raised about the facility.
Todd Thalhamer, a civil engineer who spoke on behalf of the environmental group the Conversation Law Foundation, said he’s concerned the facility will cause fire danger.
“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when you will have a fire. The industry has been experiencing a dramatic increase in fires at transfer stations and other facilities.” Thalhamer said. “The toxicity [from a fire] will have all sorts of volatile organic chemicals. You’re gonna have high levels of benzene and other known volatility chemicals that are known carcinogens.”
Peter Durning, a lawyer for South Coast Renewables, told the Board of Health that the company plans to use an advanced fire prevention system to mitigate those risks.
New Bedford’s Board of Health is slated to issue a final decision on the site by September 19.
