Recycling plant proposal goes back to freeholders
Battle continues over planned facility on Edgeboro Road
BY VINCENT TODARO & BRIAN DONAHUE Staff Writers

EAST BRUNSWICK - A longstanding battle over a proposed recycling plant on Edgeboro Road is not over yet.

Triple M Sanitation is appealing a December 2006 decision by the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders that rejected the firm's application to be included in the county's solid waste management plan. A Superior Court judge recently remanded the matter back to the freeholders, saying they failed to provide reasons for their decision.

Tonight, the freeholders are expected to vote on a resolution listing those reasons, according to Richard J. Hills, head of the county's solid waste management division. Hills said he had not yet seen the wording for the resolution, but he expected that either Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel or County Counsel Thomas F. Kelso would issue a statement at the meeting.

Triple M Sanitation has long sought to build a Class A recycling center at 21 Edgeboro Road. The East Brunswick Planning Board denied an initial proposal in 1996, and in 2005 the township Zoning Board of Adjustment ruled against hearing Triple M's application, saying it had already been decided.

Since that time, the applicant has continued to fight for approval for the facility, which would recycle paper, aluminum and glass.

"Nothing as far as the application has changed," Hills said, noting that the applicant is still seeking to be included in the county's Solid Waste Management Plan. If it were included, the firm would then need state Department of Environmental Protection approval, as well as local permits and a certificate of occupancy from East Brunswick. However, it would no longer need approval from the township's Planning or Zoning boards.

East Brunswick resident Denise Contrino said she expects those who opposed the plan in prior years to attend the Feb. 7 meeting because they still feel the center has no place in the area.

She fears that residents of the Pine Ridge neighborhood would be able to hear and smell the recycling operation, and that it would also bring additional truck traffic to the area.

"It is not supposed to be so close to a residential neighborhood," she said.

In a Jan. 8 letter to the freeholders, Contrino said Triple M Sanitation would be "virtually adjacent to the Edgeboro landfill, a few hundred feet from the Edgeboro Road/Route 18 intersection, and only 800 feet from an endangered residential area."

"While a strong proponent of responsible recycling, I am opposed to this location for the Triple M Sanitation operation. Already living next to 'developed' Route 18 and Edgeboro Road, already living next to the 'developed' Edgeboro landfill, I have no desire to have yet another noisy, odoriferous, and potentially unsafe neighbor," Contrino wrote.

She urged the freeholders to provide the reasons for their opposition to the plan and reject it again. Contrino said she believes there are alternative, more suitable sites for the center, noting property near the Middlesex County Utilities Authority in Sayreville as an example.

"Other communities housing Class A [recycling centers] relocate them at least a half-mile from any residential area, specifically to avoid the kinds of problems about which Pine Ridge is raising questions," she said.

Contrino also noted that the proposed location is in the township's industrial manufacturing zone, which does not specifically list the type of plant being proposed as a permitted use.

Triple M's applications have called for a largely paper-recycling operation, with some co-mingled materials.

"This is a recycling facility to process the same materials that you and I store in our basement or garage, or house, until they are picked up at the curb - paper, aluminum and glass …," said Harry Starrett, attorney for Triple M Sanitation. "This is not a garbage operation."

"Residents from day one, if you go back and look at their testimony, have described this as a garbage operation, and that's not true," he added.

Starrett said concerns about odors, noise and traffic are baseless.

"All of the operation is inside a large warehouse building, set back 300 feet from the street," he said, noting that the proposed site is "on a heavily industrial road" that has a landfill and a large trucking business.

"I've said all along, if you're picking a spot for a recycling facility, there could not be a better spot," Starrett said.

Representatives of Triple M argued in 2005 that their plan calls for a lighter use than an earlier proposal, saying the materials proposed for recycling had been reduced from 700 to 200 tons per day. Also, the originally proposed 24- hour operation was cut by about half, they said, noting also that the amount of truck traffic had been greatly lessened.

Starrett said he is eager to hear what the freeholders have to say next week, and that the appeal will then continue in Superior Court.

"We're fighting it to the end," he said. "We feel the freeholders were wrong the first time. We're looking forward to seeing their reasons, and we'll take it from there."