Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Synagro quietly announces trucking operations will take place an additional 25 hours weekly at proposed Plainfield Township facility

At the November 29, 2017 review of Synagro's sketch plan, Synagro representative Jim Hecht was questioned about operating hours, and hours trucks would enter and exit the site.  He was also questioned about the amount of space available for storage of raw material (piles of crap).  Mr Hecht did not seem totally comfortable with the questions, and appeared genuinely confused why they were being asked.

The reason the questions were asked is that beginning at least in April 2017 at a Q&A session hosted by Synagro, Mr. Hecht stated that trucks will enter and leave the site during the hours that Grand Central operates, 7am-4pm M-F and 7am-9am on Saturday.  The plant would run 24/7.

At 400 tons of raw product daily, a hell of a lot of crap would have to be stored so that processing could continue from 9am Saturday to 7am on Monday - almost 800 tons.  300 tons of water is removed from 400 tons of sludge, and beginning in November 2017 Synagro stated it would store and haul waste water off site. Why the concept of storage of both solids and liquids and operating hours was foreign to Mr. Hecht is a bit of a concern - it is obvious what the issue is.

After the November review, Mr. Hecht wrote a follow-up letter on December 12, 2017, confirming that the hours trucks would operate were as discussed at the November meeting, 7am-4pm M-F and 7am-9am Sat..  Here is the letter - but a warning - what he states in it changed by February's meeting.



At the February 2018 Land Development review of the latest and greatest Synagro plan, Mr. Hecht was questioned again about operating hours and his reply changed to 6am to 6pm M-S, six days a week.  Huh, so there was an issue.  Mr. Hecht is the "project developer"!

In the December letter, Mr. Hecht states that raw product will arrive "covered" and much is stated about odor control on site.  At the February 2018 meeting, it was admitted that the "cover" on incoming trucks is a tarp, which will not control odors during transportation on local roads.

Waste Management appears to be planning to not honor its commitment to relinquish use of the Plainfield Township Recreational Trail segment that it was graciously allowed to temporarily use by agreement in 1997.  What else will change by the time this proposal's review is complete?  The addition of 25 more hours that trucks will operate is a very significant detail - one that Mr. Hecht got wrong as recently as December 2017.

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