Inside look at Hudson Falls garbage plant after recent neighbor concerns

HUDSON FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A garbage plant in Hudson Falls has been facing complaints from neighbors -- including some people who want it removed, but the company said they are providing an essential service to the community. Without this garbage plant, the Wheelabrator, workers said the tons of trash would have no place to go.

Each day, the Wheelabrator takes in about 500-600 tons of waste, totaling nearly 150,000 tons a year. The plant has been around since 1991 and specializes in turning nearly all that trash into renewable energy.

"That renewable energy powers about 6,000 homes in our community annually," said Maurice Holcomb, Wheelabrator plant manager. "The electricity generated is sold on the open market to national grid for that."

Along with renewable energy, the plant also extracts about 1,700 tons of metal annually that is used in cellphone and laptop markets. Holcomb said each day, about 50 garbage trucks dump trash into the Tipping Floor, where that waste is then sorted through to ensure it meets requirements.

Holcomb gave NEWS10 a walkthrough of the Wheelabrator, showing equipment such as a large crane that grabs and moves the garbage and a control room with various monitors. Holcomb said the control room is the brains of the operation.

“Every second we’re on, those SIMS are in progress,” said Holcomb.

Yet some neighbors began raising concerns in the beginning of November after a large amount of smoke was released from the building. This happened on Nov. 6 and the company addressed it in part of a statement as a malfunction.

"Tuesday evening, a draft fan in one of the facility’s boilers stopped working for approximately five minutes due to a tripped electrical circuit. As a result, smoke filled the boiler building and was emitted through the vents of the building, but quickly dissipated after the fan was brought back online," said Mary Urban, director of communications with WIN Waste Innovations.

Holcomb said this incident shouldn't be a concern for locals.

“Operators acted immediately, they stopped feeding the boiler, immediately took that boiler offline," said Holcomb. “A lot of our employees families you know not just their kids but their grandparents, they live in this community and we wanna do the right thing by them and our neighbors” 

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is currently investigating the smoke incident as well. They confirmed the Wheelabrator has active permits from the DEC to operate. In part of a statement they said they're conducting a standard review of the company.

“DEC is currently conducting a rigorous review of the facility’s permit renewal and modification applications to determine if proposed facility operations meet air quality and solid waste standards," said NYSDEC in part of a statement.

Holcomb said they're also working to improve poor smells using things such as updated door and air circulating systems.

“We also installed some sprayers, to help with odors and every day we put a deodorizing agent on the roads," said Holcomb.

Holcomb believes without this plant, the waste would have no place to go.

“If it didn't go, it would be going to landfills or shipped out of the state so we’re helping mitigate greenhouse gasses. In New York State there's also a big issue with overfilled landfills," said Holcomb. "We feel we provide an essential service for our communities."