NCABC: More than 200 garbage-hauling truck trips a day servicing Dalton dump pose health, safety and environmental dangers to White Mountain communities
NCABC’s traffic expert finds major impact on state and local highways from proposed Dalton landfill
Dalton, N.H. [Jan. 5, 2021] – North Country Alliance for Balanced Change today released an analysis detailing significant threats to public safety, quality of life and the environment by garbage hauling trucks and other vehicles servicing a proposed landfill in Dalton.
Casella Waste Systems Traffic Study confirms that more than 200 garbage-hauling trucks will be rolling daily to and from the proposed Dalton dump, through the heart of three North Country towns– Bethlehem, Twin Mountain, and Whitefield.
NCABC’s preliminary review of the study, sent to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, reveals that the document is incomplete and inadequate for a number of technical reasons, and that the additional truck traffic projected by Casella could significantly affect the public safety and quality of life in those North Country communities.
Moreover, the truck route proposed by Casella as the best route is inconsistent with the criteria Casella says should be used to choose the proposed truck route. NCABC finds that the proposed truck route was picked for purely political reasons, and not because it is the shortest, or safest, or least impactful route.
A Dec. 17 letter from NCABC’s attorney to New Hampshire DOT included a technical analysis of the Traffic Study prepared by TEPP LLC.
The letter, also distributed to town officials in North Country towns affected by the project, says: “We conclude from the review of TEPP LLC that Casella’s review of the possible traffic impacts of its proposed landfill is inadequate. The traffic study contains only the most basic aspects of traffic impact analysis. This proposed project is large enough to merit more than the run-of-the-mill traffic analysis. We respectfully request that the DOT instruct Casella to supplement its traffic impact analysis to address the many deficiencies noted by TEPP LLC…”
The Dec. 17 letter also included a critique of some of the basic assumptions used in Casella’s Traffic Study, notably inconsistencies in the study with respect to the size of the trucks projected to be used, and the rationale for the proposed truck route. The critique asks a series of six questions, seeking a response from NH DOT regarding the study’s assumptions. No response from NH DOT has been received.
Casella’s Traffic Study confirms some of the worst fears about the number and size of trucks that would be servicing the proposed Dalton dump:
- At least 102 garbage-hauling trucks would arrive at the dump each weekday and occasional Saturdays starting at 6 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. for a total of 204 inbound and outbound trips. Additional trucks carrying toxic leachate and other materials would also frequent the facility during business hours.
- Half of the 102 trucks will be WB-67 type vehicles, which have 18 wheels, and are 67 feet in length. (Although currently trucks servicing the Bethlehem site are often 22 wheelers.) The remainder of the 102 trucks will be smaller, but no information is provided about the size of those smaller trucks. This means that the size of those trucks could be only slightly smaller than WB-67 vehicles.
NCABC President Eliot Wessler said Casella is going to have to do a much better job of explaining to NH DOT and the affected towns why it thinks an additional 200+ huge trash-hauling trucks traveling on local roads, making difficult turns at dangerous intersections, in all kinds of weather, is plausible.
“Casella’s Traffic Study is totally inadequate given the size of the traffic impacts,” Wessler said. “It would be irresponsible for NH DOT to accept the Casella Traffic Study, without requiring Casella to start over and produce a new, more comprehensive, traffic study.”
In addition, the Traffic Study does not address all of the negative impacts on the small towns its trucks will be travelling through, he said.
“The Casella Traffic Study makes clear that on any given day, over 200 times a day, a large trash-hauling truck could be rolling right through the center of Bethlehem or Twin Mountain and will certainly be rolling through the heart of Whitefield—right past schools, town buildings, medical facilities, and iconic small businesses,” Wessler said. “All this truck traffic will wreak havoc on those towns; and for Bethlehem, hasn’t that town been tortured enough already by Casella?”
Wessler noted the routes favored by Casella impact small towns and ignores a direct route to the Dalton dump site from one of two exits on I-93 connecting with Littleton’s Main Street.
“Ironically, there are two North Country towns that will not be impacted under the proposed route for trash trucks—Littleton and Dalton,” he said. “It’s clear from Casella’s own statements that it does not want to route trucks through Littleton, even though that would be the most direct route.
Wessler said the likely reason is because Casella does not want to create friction with Littleton, by far the most politically powerful town in the region.
“And Dalton is not impacted at all by truck traffic, since the proposed truck route will not result in truck travel over public roads in Dalton—not even one inch, despite the fact that Dalton is the only town that stands to gain financially from the Dalton dump.”
For more details on NCABC’s analysis of the Casella traffic study for the Dalton dump, visit northcountryabc.org.