TONS OF TRASH EACH DAY?
THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE
SAYS IT HAS A PLAN TO DO
JUST THAT. BUT IT
INVOLVES MOVING ALL OF
THAT TRASH -- TO ONE
NEIGHBORHOOD. AND NOT
EVERYONE IS ON BOARD
WITH THE IDEA. NEWS 13'S
GABRIELLE BURKHART HAS
BOTH SIDES...IN
TONIGHT'S SPECIAL
ASSIGNMENT.
"...QUICK NATS birds
..." BEFORE DAWN...
"...NAT pop gets in ..."
CHARLES YOUNG IS READY
FOR LONG DAY...
"...driver: you ready to
get going?..." DOING
MUCH OF THE CITY'S DIRTY
WORK. "...first
barrel!... " THE FIRST
OF HUNDREDS HE'LL PICK
UP IN ONE SHIFT.
"...NATS sequence trash
bins..."
"...
it's about anywhere from
800-900..." YOUNG IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR JUST ONE
OF 48-RESIDENTIAL
TRASH ROUTES IN THE CITY
OF ALBUQUERQUE -- PER
DAY. THAT DOESN'T
INCLUDE RECYCLING OR
COMMERCIAL PICK-UPS...
LITERALLY TONS OF
TRASH.
"...
as soon as our truck
gets full we head off to
the landfill and
normally we're back on
the route about
11:30/11:45..." AFTER
PICKING UP ANOTHER
400-OR SO BARRELS...
"...we take off on our
second trip to the
landfill..." AND THAT'S
WHERE THE CITY SAYS --
IT CAN SAVE TIME AND
MONEY.
"...
They spend a lot of
their time just driving.
From an efficiency
standpoint we wanted to
TRUCK MAKES THE 40-MILE
ROUND TRIP TO THE LAND
FILL MULITPLE TIMES A
DAY. THE CITY SAYS IT
CAN CUT OUT THIS
STEP ALL TOGETHER... BY
BRINGING ALL OF THE
CITY'S TRASH
TO A PROPOSED "TRANSFER
STATION" ON EDITH AND
COMANCHE. THE IDEA IS TO
TRANSFER THE TRASH INTO
LARGER, TRACTOR TRAILER
TRUCKS... SO GARBAGE
TRUCKS CAN STAY
WORKING IN TOWN.
"...NATS charles: how
you doing today?
good good!..."
"...
it'll save us a lot more
time, it'll be more
efficient I think..."
THE LARGER TRUCKS WOULD
MAKE FEWER TRIPS TO THE
LANDFILL.
"...
a city trash truck like
this dumps roughly
tractor trailer truck
can hold 4-5 times as
much trash in one
trip..." THE CITY ARGUES
A TRANSFER STATION WILL
SAVE 75-MILLION
DOLLARS OVER 20-YEARS.
CUTTING DOWN ON FUEL,
MAINTENANCE AND
EMISSIONS. BUT THOSE WHO
LIVE NEAR THE PROPOSED
SITE -- SAY -- NOT SO
FAST.
"...
I've worked for this all
my life. This is my
retirement and my
life..." LARRY STEPP
RUNS A BUSINESS... RIGHT
NEXT DOOR. "...right on
40 years ..." THE
73-YEAR-OLD RESTORES AND
REFURBISHES OLD CARS.
"...
I'm working and I still
enjoy working and I
enjoy what I do. But I
sure wouldn't enjoy it
with a bunch of garbage
- thank you very
much..." STEPP WORRIES
ABOUT THE MASSIVE AMOUNT
OF TRASH TRUCKS COMING
AND GOING ON EDITH.
"...it will destroy my
business..." THE SITE
NEXT DOOR IS ALREADY A
CITY-OWNED SOLID WASTE
FACILITY - FOR THE
PUBLIC TO DROP OFF
RECYCLING.
"...
down this side of the
fence right here I have
to pick the trash up
from the dumpsters every
day..." IF IT BECOMES A
TRANSFER STATION - THE
CITY ESTIMATES TRASH
TRUCKS WILL MAKE 214-
NEW TRIPS IN AND OUT
OF THE
EDITH LOCATION.. NEARLY
TRIPLING THE AMOUNT
TRAFFIC AROUND
THE PROPERTY. NEIGHBORS
WHO LIVE IN THE AREA
HAVE THEIR OWN
WORRIES.
"...
number one does it
really make sense to
bring all the city's
garbage to the middle of
Albuquerque?..." PEGGY
NORTON IS PART OF THE
GROUP FIGHTING THE
TRANSFER STATION. SHE
SAYS THEY'VE DONE A
STUDY THAT BRINGS UP
HEALTH AND SAFETY
CONCERNS. "...the air
quality. the trucks
idling..."
"...
rodents, odors, noise.
loud motorcycle
would all be negative
health impacts..."
NEIGHBORS ARE SO OPPOSED
TO THE PROJECT --
THEY'VE HIRED A
PRIVATE ATTORNEY TO
FIGHT THE CITY ON
ZONING.
"...
we've paid over
50-thousand dollars to a
lawyer to support our
case and each time we
win..." MAYOR BERRY SAYS
HIS OFFICE HAS WORKED ON
THE PROJECT FOR
YEARS ... AND VOWS THE
CITY IS LISTENING TO
NEIGHBORS.
"...
I know it's
controversial.
Everything is. Any time
you're gonna put
anything in any
neighborhood, it's
controversial..." TO
EASE CONCERNS...HE SAYS
ALL TRASH WILL BE MOVED
IN AN ENCLOSED FACILITY.
AND WILL NOT BE STORED
OVERNIGHT. THE CITY'S
TRASH WILL STILL GO TO
THE LANDFILL THE SAME
DAY. AND TRIPS IN AND
OUT OF THE STATION HE
SAYS - WILL BE
STAGGERED.
"...
both the experts, the
designers, the
architects, our solid
waste department have
looked at this from the
standpoint of being in
somebody's back yard and
treat it like it's your
own... " NEIGHBORS LIKE
STEPP AREN'T CONVINCED.
"...
they have yet in all of
this to walk through my
gate and ask me what I
think. Not happened
yet..." BUT IT WON'T BE
UP TO HIM. THE ULTIMATE
DECISION FOR THE
TRANSFER STATION... WILL
EVENTUALLY GO BEFORE
CITY COUNCIL. ON SPECIAL
ASSIGNMENT, GABRIELLE
BURKHART, KRQE NEWS 13.
THE CITY STILL HAS A FEW
HOOPS TO JUMP THROUGH
BEFORE ANYTHING HAPPENS.
FIRST... IT HAS TO WAIT
FOR THE RESULTS OF AN
ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY.
THE CITY IS ALSO
REQUESTING A ZONING
CHANGE.
YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT
THE PROPOSAL AND SEE
RENDERINGS...ON OUR KRQE
NEWS APP.
ADLIB TOSS TO WEATHER