‘Dumped on us’

Tractor trailer traffic will worsen, industrial odors will increase, and the potential will exist for a catastrophic hazmat fire, neighbors of a proposed Pond Avenue paint recycling facility told a Middlesex County official on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Roughly 35 residents of Runyon Avenue and nearby streets turned out to oppose the proposed Class D recycling facility during a public hearing held at the Ronald S. Dobies municipal building.

The in-person session was the first part of the hearing. The second part, to be held virtually, was set for the early evening. Written comments about the proposal are permitted until Friday, Oct. 4.

Roughly 10 property owners spoke, voicing concerns about possible negative consequences if the proposal were to win approval. They also questioned how the plan has come this far.

“How did something like this get dumped on us?” asked Joseph Seickle, owner of another Pond Avenue business.

The proposed facility would be operated by GDB International at 207 Pond Ave. It would accept up to 15 tons per day of latex and oil-based paint and paint related products.

The operating hours would be 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday for acceptance and processing of materials. Latex paints would be processed and consolidated at the facility. Oil-based products would be sorted, consolidated and transferred. 

The estimated amount of finished product per day is four to five tons and residue is one-quarter to one-half ton per day. Paint recycling would comprise 36,000 square feet of the 240,000-square-foot building.

Post-consumer latex paints would be collected via recycling programs such as Clean Harbors that are located in various home improvement stores throughout the New York and New Jersey metro area.

Solid waste (empty paint cans) would be transported off-site. Non-hazardous residue (off-spec) paints would be sorted in totes and prepared for off-site disposal. Any hazardous waste generated would be stored in a “90-day waste area” prior to off-site disposal.

Truck trips per day, on average, are estimated at two per day. Inbound trucks are estimated at one per day and outbound trucks at less than one per day. The majority of the trucks would be 53-foot dry vans. There would be an estimated 10 roll-off trucks per year. The site is currently utilized by GDB for its plastics recycling and warehouse operations.

Carole Tolmachewich, a planner for the county’s Division of Solid Waste Management, presided over the hearing. Several speakers questioned the timeline that led to the session.

Tolmachewich said GDB submitted an application for paint recycling. Various borough officials, including Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk, received an email in June notifying them of the proposal, she said.

The county’s Board of Commissioners decided in September to authorize the hearing. After the Oct. 4 deadline for written comments, GDB will be given a chance to respond. The commissioners will later decide whether to approve the proposal. If it gets by that hurdle, it would then need a state Department of Environmental Protection okay to become reality.

Tolmachewich said the county received no written comments from borough officials on the proposal. When no comments are forwarded within 60 days of notification, she added, the county equates that with no official municipal objection.

“I don’t recall an email,” Mikolajczyk said in a text after the hearing, when asked by Inside – Middlesex about the notification mentioned by Tolmacchewich. 

Several speakers at the hearing questioned the lack of opposition by municipal government. 

“It seems like our county and town are not helping us,” said David Hall, a Runyon Avenue resident. Hall said his tax bill has risen $1,700 this year and now he faces the prospect of a “toxic waste dump” near his home.

At one point, a GDB site manager said the company would respond later in writing to the concerns voiced at the hearing. Hall shot back, “Give the answers now.”

Several residents feared the paint facility would worsen tractor trailer traffic on Runyon. It’s forbidden by law, but occurs any way, they said.

Neighbors of the proposed facility also fear that local first-responders are not equipped to combat a fire at the proposed paint recycler. “If there’s a catastrophic event, who’s going to respond to it?” asked Main Street resident Tim Stewart.

“Our fire department could never fight that,” said Hall, who said he previously worked doing hazardous waste collection and disposal.

“I don’t know if this is a done deal, but I hope not,” he added.

Greene Avenue resident Rich Thomasey noted that Middlesex Borough already has more solid waste and recycling facilities within its borders than other larger county towns. The borough has eight, whereas Woodbridge has seven and New Brunswick has five, Thomasey said. 

“We have enough facilities that the county uses,” Thomasey said.

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