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Residents urge commissioners to reject proposed Giordano recycling facility; county schedules public hearing in May
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged Salem County commissioners to deny an application for a proposed recycling facility near the county landfill, citing environmental, fire and traffic risks. County staff said a public hearing will be scheduled in May to accept formal public input.
Several residents urged the Salem County Board of County Commissioners to reject an application by Giordano (recycling/reprocessing facility) during the public-comment portion of the April meeting, citing environmental contamination risks, fire hazards and heavy truck traffic through local roads.
A public commenter (name not recorded on the meeting transcript) told the board that recycling facilities can entail large-scale remediation costs if contamination occurs and pointed to other long-running cleanups as examples of costly remediation. The speaker said recycling sites can experience large fires (citing a recent Delaware fire involving a cardboard pile) and warned that placing a facility next to marshes and waterways could risk groundwater or estuarine damage. The speaker also described observed safety and housekeeping problems during an unannounced visit to an existing facility and urged the county to reject a location that would place heavy truck traffic on local roads.
Another resident repeated concerns about truck traffic and local road capacity, noting the prospective daily tractor-trailer counts cited in public comment (the speaker estimated 100to150 tractor-trailers) and warning that local emergency resources could be strained if accidents occur on narrow roads. The speaker suggested alternate sites closer to I-295 (near Exit 17) or industrial parks as more appropriate locations for large recycling operations.
County staff told the meeting that a formal public hearing on the application will likely be held in May (staff indicated the hearing will probably be at Salem County Community College) and invited commenters to return to that public hearing to provide testimony. No formal action on the application was taken at this meeting.
The commissioners did not vote on the application during the April meeting; public input was recorded and the county announced a future hearing date to permit additional public testimony and staff reports.
