NYC City Council approves garbage plan - papers

NEW YORK - The New York City City Council on Wednesday approved a revamped master plan for exporting the citys residential garbage after the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island is fully closed by Jan. 1, 2002, the Daily News reported Thursday. The new plan primarily calls for using a network of existing city-owned transfer stations in the five boroughs to barge much of the citys trash to a privately run processing site in Linden, N.J. There, the garbage is to be transferred to sealed train cars and shipped to other states. The New York Times said the plan relies on a $6 billion network of stations, barges, trucks and trains. The Linden plant would need the support of New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman. In New Jersey, the Union County Board of Freeholders is expected to take up the plan for Linden as early as Thursday night, the Times said. The Daily News said several council members expressed doubt that the revised plan is a long-term solution to the big problem of disposing 12,000 tons of residential garbage every day. But they voted for it anyway, saying it guarantees the closing of the Fresh Kills landfill, one of the countrys largest dumps. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE