By Rick Karlin
The company proposing what would have been a major construction and demolition debris waste facility along the Hudson River has withdrawn its application to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Athens Stevedoring and Environmental Development LLC had proposed a facility to store and process some 8,400 tons of construction and debris material per week. After crushing, it would have been hauled away by truck from the 6.1-acre waterfront site in Athens.
Opponents hailed the withdrawal, pointing to a growing backlash against the concept, which may have been fueled by the ongoing controversy over the existing S.A. Dunn construction and debris landfill in Rensselaer, about 30 miles to the north.
A number of groups, including Keep it Greene, Friends of Athens, Hudson Riverkeeper and the Athens Village Board emerged in recent months to oppose the plan.
“I noticed a for sale sign and when I called, the owner of the property told me that he was selling to a barge and trucking company,” Diana Abadie of Keep it Greene said in an email.
“I am very proud of how our entire community came together to make their voices heard,” Athens Mayor Stephan Bradicich said in a statement. “I have no doubt that the large and unified opposition to this project played a large part in stopping the effort.”
Athens Stevedoring, which according to business documents is based in Great Neck, Long Island, couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.
Opponents launched an online petition which garnered more than 2,000 signatures, and got support from local elected representatives Assemblyman Chris Tague, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat.
The controversy isn’t over, however.
Brewster-based Peckham Industries is looking to build a 600,000-ton capacity construction and demolition debris landfill along the Hudson in Catskill, just south of Athens. Both communities are in Greene County.
Peckham’s application to the state Department of Environmental Conservation was recently returned as incomplete, and Abadie said the community is awaiting further developments.
Peckham couldn’t be reached on Monday.
The Hudson riverfront in the area has been cited by developers for landfills due to the unused rock quarries there, said David Walker, ageologist with the Keep It Greene organization.
“It’s no coincidence that these two similar projects landed in the same vicinity. Athens and Catskill are just pieces of a larger puzzle. There are idle quarries along the Hudson River awaiting some new purpose, and New York City is the source of an enormous C&D waste stream,” he said in an email. Such refuse is twice the tonnage of the city’s municipal waste. And transporting it by barge along the river is less costly than by truck.
The S.A. Dunn construction and demolition landfill in Rensselaer has drawn opposition for more than a year from nearby residents complaining of dust and odors, as well as truck traffic going to the facility, which is one of the largest in New York state. The landfill, which used to be a gravel pit, also is adjacent to the city’s K-12 school complex.
• rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU