Asphalt Plant Redux

The Department of Transportation (DOT) presented its proposal for an asphalt plant on land it owns at the Flushing River waterfront again.
The proposal, which carries a $32 million price tag, would build a new plant and upgrade the storm and sanitary system and utilities on a site currently used to repair DOT trucks. It would also renovate surrounding waterfront, adjacent park property and a bike path.
The new plant will replace the one that was in use from 1938 to the 1970s. The plan, according to DOT, would be cost-saving and environmentally friendly.
If the asphalt plant sounds familiar, it should. A proposal was passed by Community Board 7 this past November. But after two private asphalt companies that do business with the city complained of not being given fair notice of the ULURP meeting and questions arose about the proposals impact on revitalization efforts in Flushing, DOT postponed the proposal for a year and agreed to hold another CB hearing in the future.
The delayed proposal also gave the politicians whose districts encompass the area Councilmen John Liu and Hiram Monserrate, Assemblymembers Nettie Mayersohn and Barry Grodenchik, and State Senator Toby Stavisky a chance to examine the impact the site will have on air and traffic in the neighborhood.
"There are advantages as well as drawbacks that this new asphalt plant will bring, and it’s important that the Department of Transportation provide as much information as possible to the public about this major project," said Liu.
According to the DOT, $15 million would be spent on the asphalt plant and the rest on site remediation. The agency estimates the plant would produce more than 100,000 tonnage of asphalt each year, nearly offsetting the amount it contracts from the neighboring private companies, Tully Construction and Grace Industries Inc. The life expectancy of the plant would be 20 to 30 years and would reduce the cost of producing asphalt by $2.5 million each year.
Conservation is one of the major reasons DOT is seeking its own asphalt plant for Queens. Currently, the city strips the veneer of streets, known as recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), when it becomes worn. Some RAP is reused in making more asphalt. But most is thrown away. Deputy Commissioner of Roadway and Repair Joseph Cannisi said that, with the upcoming closure of the Staten Island landfill, the city will have no place for its RAP waste and will be forced to pay costly fees to other states for their landfill space.
"If we cant recycle back into the pavement, it will become a solid waste stream," said Cannisi.
The neighboring Queens asphalt plants that hold contracts with the city recycle approximately 30% of RAP. The citys plant would recycle 40%.
"We are opposed to it," said Richard Grace, president of Grace Industries Inc., who questioned DOTs $2.5 million cost-saving figure, noting that it did not factor in his company and Tully Constructions tax contributions to the city.
Grace said that his company sold asphalt at a below-cost rate to the city because it relied on the contract to cover their overhead.
"Even if we dont make a lot of money, like this year, without the city contract we would have lost a lot more," said Grace, unable to give a number of how many jobs would be lost to the citys plant.
He believed DOT should have sought an alternative, like mandating in contracts that the private asphalt companies use a higher percentage of RAP in their production.
DOT officials said they had tried to encourage more RAP usage but met with limited success. They also said the number of jobs lost from Tully and Grace would be very small, since only a small amount of laborers are required to run a plant and the number does not rise with a rise in production. Six new jobs would also be created at the DOT plant.
Politicians at the meeting asked if the asphalt plant would burden the neighborhood with more trucks. The presenters said that, though 30 trucks would be making roundtrips each day, their traffic study showed no significant impact. Trucks would only be on Northern Boulevard and the Whitestone Expressway, not on adjacent neighborhood roads. Moreover, DOT expects their use of trucks would be offset by fewer trucks used at the neighboring asphalt plants with whom they currently have contracts.
In answer to environmental concerns, Cannisi said their plant would meet emissions standards and would be the most environmentally friendly because it would catch escaping "blue smoke" and burn it.