Today, the New York City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Committee heard arguments from both sides on an NYCDOT plan to assume ownership and operations of an asphalt plant north of Willets Point in Queens. Tri-State submitted testimony supporting the DOT for the traffic, air quality and infrastructure benefits.
The move will cut the cost of maintaining the city’s infrastructure, freeing up capital to expand maintenance programs and create jobs. The main savings would come from expansion of the DOT’s innovative use of Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP). The RAP process uses material culled from resurfacing projects that would otherwise be transported to landfills.
Producing asphalt that is 40% RAP at the DOT’s Brooklyn plant has saved an annual 840,000 barrels of oil and avoided 312,000 miles of local truck travel annually. The agency estimates that by modernizing the Queens plant, it could produce 50% RAP asphalt within a few years. By experimenting with “warm-mix” asphalt, a process that uses lower temperatures for mixing, it is estimated that the Queens plant could eventually produce 60% RAP.
In the end, the transfer of ownership would produce a slew of benefits, including lower costs, less waste, more capital for maintenance and lower truck VMT on the city’s streets, resulting in lower diesel emissions and less wear and tear on the roads.
Three local asphalt manufacturers testified in opposition, disputing NYCDOT’s projected savings and stating that the private sector could match the agency’s RAP goals. It’s not clear whether private companies would pass on to the city the savings gained from higher RAP, providing the same savings as an NYCDOT purchase of the plant.
Also testifying in favor of the plant purchase was the municipal public employee union DC 37, E2 Environmental Entrepreneurs, National Resources Defense Council, and the Pratt Center for Community Development. The plant’s current owner is a self-identified “willing seller” and did not state an opinion on the city’s interest.
