The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has introduced a bond ordinance that will, if adopted, provide additional funding for improvements at the Monmouth County Reclamation Center, Tinton Falls.
The reclamation center accepts household waste and commercial waste from all 53 of the county’s municipalities, but it does not accept construction debris. The facility has been a topic of discussion during 2019 as residents of Tinton Falls and neighboring communities have dealt with odors emanating from the landfill.
The bond ordinance was introduced during the freeholders’ June 13 meeting. A second reading of the ordinance has been scheduled for July 11.
The ordinance appropriates $4.05 million for improvements at the reclamation center. All of the funding would be provided by the issuance of bonds, according to the ordinance. Earlier this year the freeholders appropriated $7 million for improvements at the facility.
The package of improvements would include renovations to the materials recovery processing facility building; improvements to the leachate plant; the installation of wells; the installation of odor control systems; the installation of environmental high density polyethylene caps; a gas to energy phaseout; and the acquisition of equipment.
In other action related to the reclamation center, the freeholders passed a resolution ratifying the award of emergency contracts for the odor corrective action plan at the landfill.
According to the resolution, in February, the freeholders ratified the award of emergency contracts to several vendors, including Waste Management Inc. and Air Care Technology Inc., related to an odor corrective action plan for the reclamation center.
The freeholders said that as of June 13, “the emergency situation at the reclamation center related to the odor corrective action plan is ongoing, and Waste Management Inc. and Air Care Technology Inc. have continued the necessary emergency work and incurred additional costs.”
The board resolved to pay the additional costs as follows: Waste Management Inc., $4,428,500, and Air Care Technology Inc., $433,676.
In other reclamation center news, Freeholder Director Tom Arnone said during the June 13 meeting that the cause of a fire that occurred at the landfill on June 11 remains under investigation. He said the fire had nothing to do with garbage at the facility.
A Facebook post by the Tinton Falls Fire Company No. 1 on June 11 reported that construction materials and construction vehicles were on fire at the reclamation center. Fire companies from several municipalities responded to fight and extinguish the blaze.