2009 LETTER FOR PUBLIC HEARING FROM COUNCILLOR JOAN LOVELYRECEIVED
NOV 102009
Dr. Barbara Poremba, Chair November 10, 2009
City of Salem Board of Health
120 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970
Re: Transfer Station Public Hearing 11/10/09
Dear Dr. Poremba and Members of the Board of Health:
Please be advised that I am unable to attend tonight's Public Hearing on the Transfer Station due to a
pre -scheduled commitment. I respectfully request that you read this letter into the official record of the
meeting and respond to questions accordingly.
Having been the former Ward Three City Councillor from 1998 to 2003, and currently a Councillor -at -
Large from 2004 to present, I am keenly aware of the issues past and present with regard to the Transfer
Station. I have dealt with this issue on numerous occasions both with city residents' and Northside
Carting. As such, I have several serious concerns regarding the current proposal to allow Northside
Carting to increase the daily tonnage of the Transfer Station from 100 tons per day to 400 tons per day.
My reasons therefore are as follows:
I recently had the opportunity to personally view Thompson Brothers Industries (TBI) transfer station in
North Andover, MA, at the request of Robert George of Northside Carting. As you may be aware, this
transfer station is a 500 ton per day facility located in a heavy industrial area with little to no residences
nearby and a few businesses within site of the station. While I was impressed by this 30,000 square foot
building and its recycling capabilities for 500 tons per day of waste and refuse, I questioned how
Salem's transfer station building, which will be approximately 9700 square feet for 400 tons per day of
waste and refuse, will adequately handle a larger amount of refuse in a much smaller facility by
comparison. It would appear that the TBI facility at 30,000 square feet for 500 tons per day is much
better equipped to handle that daily tonnage compared to Salem's facility at 9700 square feet for 400
tons per day. I would ask the Board to carefully question the difference in operational capacity to
determine if the Salem station is adequately sized to handle the 300% increase to 400 tons per day.
In addition, I am highly concerned for the neighbors in the direct line of site and proximity to the
existing site and the lack of proper air quality, noise and dust monitoring conducted in advance of this
filing. It is my understanding that no monitoring was conducted at the nearest residence at the top of
Dipietro Avenue, directly across the street from the station. If this is true, I would implore the Board to
insist that a proper monitoring assessment be done at this location prior to any grant of a permit.
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As you may be aware, the Board of Health involvement in this project is an extremely important step in
allowing it to proceed. The Salem City Council has the final authority to convey the property to
Northside Carting. It is therefore with great urgency that the Salem Board of Health conduct a thorough
and complete hearing process to allow the public to weigh in on what will be a pivotal impact in that
area of Salem. The Board's actions will either assist or impede this project from moving forward. I
therefore appeal to the Board to vet out all issues presented to it by the residents of our city in
determining whether this project is what is best for our city.
While I have many more questions to ask relative to increased truck traffic, noise, dust and vermin, I
hope to be able to address these questions at a continuance of this public hearing. According to the
North Andover Board of Health Site Assessment Decision, the North Andover Board of Health
conducted hearings on 18 nights and one-half day in advance of permitting the facility in their
community. I would fully expect that the Salem Board of Health will conduct its hearing process in the
same diligent and thorough manner as its brethren Board in North Andover.
I look forward to attending and participating in the next hearing. Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Joan B. Lovely
Joan B. Lovely
Councillor -at -Large