U.S. Recycling still looking
to expand its facility

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s review of U.S. Recycling’s permit modification application is on hold pending a review by PennDOT.
U.S. Recycling, at 6101 Tacony St., applied more than two years ago to increase its maximum handling of municipal solid waste from 380 tons per day to 2,000 tons per day. It has since decreased that amount to 1,500 tons per day.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency defines municipal solid waste as residential and light commercial trash composed of material including plastic, metal, wood, glass, food, textiles and yard trimmings. It does not include explosives, residual waste or hazardous waste, radioactive materials, commercial wastes, fire or smoldering matter, or incinerated items or ash.
According to PennDOT spokeswoman Jenny Robinson, the agency is still waiting for U.S. Recycling to provide a map showing proposed routes to and from Interstate 95. Additionally, PennDOT has concerns about increased truck traffic exacerbating existing safety issues, including a relatively high number of crashes at Tacony and Bridge streets.
Fran Hanny, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, serves as traffic services manager for PennDOT and is somewhat familiar with the site.
According to Hanny, the agency has sent three letters to U.S. Recycling regarding a number of locations where they see potential impact and has received only bits and pieces of information with each response.
The agency sent its first review letter following the September 2005 application but didn’t hear from the company until August 2006.
"We responded and did not hear until Nov. 30, 2007," Hanny said. "The ball is in their court."
U.S. Recycling, however, shot the ball back over the net to the DEP and is waiting on its next serve.
"We did make a response answering a couple of questions as to routing, questions requiring detailed information from our traffic engineers and traffic professionals. We submitted it on Friday," David Newman, the firm’s vice president of operations, said on Monday.
While he didn’t have a copy of the response in front of him, Newman said he believed that his company’s research showed that crash statistics aren’t as high as PennDOT claimed in its review letter.
He also believes U.S. Recycling’s voluntary reduction in the permit modification’s tonnage from 2,000 to 1,500 accomplished a couple of goals — reducing traffic and addressing local concerns.
The Tacony Civic Association has been vocal in its opposition to the facility’s expansion. U.S. Recycling is located on property owned by Newman & Co. Inc, a paperboard manufacturer operating at the same location for almost 100 years. While the plant is located in Wissinoming, it’s just one block from the Tacony line and a neighborhood looking forward to riverfront development.
While the civic association’s concerns including traffic and environmental and other safety issues have been known from the start, issues surrounding a fire that occurred one block north of the facility last spring have raised other concerns.
The Philadelphia Fire Department was unable to extinguish the fire due to insufficient water pressure and outdated water infrastructure in the area, and the buildings were left to burn to the ground. The civic group is now concerned that a similar incident at U.S. Recycling could release potentially toxic smoke into the atmosphere.
The civic group is also concerned that traffic studies for the expansion don’t take into consideration proposed riverfront development.
Newman downplayed any impact.
"The suggested routes don’t heavily cross by those areas," he said.
More than two years after the company’s initial modification application, there doesn’t seem to be any timetable for a decision, according to state agencies.
That’s OK with Newman.
"We’re patient and here for the long haul," he said. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com