Wheelabrator Confirms Plan to Abandon Catskill, N.Y., Project

After reports surfaced that Wheelabrator Technologies might abandon its plan to build an incinerator ash landfill in Catskill, N.Y., the company confirmed this week that it will drop its plans to build an incinerator ash landfill inside a former Greene County limestone quarry near the Hudson River.

According to a Daily Freeman report, in a letter to Catskill Supervisor Doreen Davis dated May 22, Wheelabrator President and CEO Robert Boucher wrote: "Wheelabrator Technologies is withdrawing its proposal to site a regional ash monofill and recycling center at the former Peckham Materials quarry. ... While we stand by the conclusions of our technical evaluation ... that the site was capable of meeting and exceeding state environmental requirements, we no longer wish to engage in this project at this time."

The decision comes after fierce opposition from local activists urging Catskill officials to reject the project. The proposed project involved hauling ash from Wheelabrator’s incinerators in Peekskill, Hudson Falls and Poughkeepsie to 158 acres in Catskill.

Daily Freeman has more details:

The town has received formal notification from Wheelabrator Technologies that the company no longer is seeking to use the former Peckham Materials quarry in the hamlet of Smith's Landing as a dump for incinerator ash.

In a letter to Catskill Supervisor Doreen Davis dated May 22, Wheelabrator President and CEO Robert Boucher wrote: "Wheelabrator Technologies is withdrawing its proposal to site a regional ash monofill and recycling center at the former Peckham Materials quarry. ... While we stand by the conclusions of our technical evaluation ... that the site was capable of meeting and exceeding state environmental requirements, we no longer wish to engage in this project at this time."

The town posted on its website during the past week that Wheelabrator apparently was abandoning its Catskill plan. The letter from Boucher provided confirmation, though it did not state a reason for the withdrawal.

Read the full article here.

New Haven Register also has more information:

Officials at the nation's second-largest trash incineration firm have confirmed they are dropping plans to dump incinerator ash inside a former Greene County limestone quarry near the Hudson River.

Robert Boucher, president and CEO of Wheelabrator Technologies, confirmed media accounts that started last week that the company was dropping its two-year-old proposal to use the Peckham Industries quarry off Route 9W just south of the village.

Read the full article here.