I think the NYC MTA would have benefited from the scrap value of the "Red Birds". I wonder if they steam-cleaned the hulks of bodily excrements before they were dumped in the ocean. I know is is illegal to "spit" in a NYC subway, but... I still wouldn't eat the fish! Florida dumped thousands of cabled-together used tires off the coast of Jacksonville as "Habitats for Pisces". Now, the salt water has taken its toll on the wire rope (duh!) and the tires are washing up on the beaches. Cool!
The Red Cars (R-17's, I think) were dumped to create artificial reefs to provide habitats for various forms of marine life. It is a proven technique that has been used in a lot of places and as a side benefit has improved the sport fishing in many of those locales.
I was in Sierra Blanca a couple of times, while stationed at Fort Bliss, TX. IIRC, it was a neat place. Didn't they have a "World Famous" restaurant &/or bar there? CRS. I skiied up at Sierra Blanca, NM, but that is a different story....
Yar!, New York shut down all the municipal incinerators and the ones in apartment buildings. They dumped the (mostly) burned ash, etc., out in the ocean, prior to that. Next they sent the whole Magilla to the landfill on Staten Island (Fresh Kills?). Meanwhile, the MTA dumped hundreds of 'obsolete' "Red Cars", from the subways, off the Jersey coast. Yuck!, methinks. I haven't eaten a New Jersey-caught fish since!!!
Hays
BNSFwatcher That's a long way for garbage to go! I thought they were dumping it down abandoned anthracite coal mine shafts in eastern Pennsylvania. Either way, better than dumping it in the ocean. Hays
That's a long way for garbage to go! I thought they were dumping it down abandoned anthracite coal mine shafts in eastern Pennsylvania. Either way, better than dumping it in the ocean.
It is a long way to go. As I remember the discussions about hauling the garbage to Texas, no one else would take it. Putting it in an abandoned coal mine was not a viable option.
Hudspeth County, which is in the middle of nowhere, took the garbage because of conducive geological conditions and the jobs that the sludge plant would create. Also, the Texas legislature quickly passed legislation to issue the necessary permits. Nothing gets the attention of the Lone Star State's legislators like the opportunity to enhance state revenues without resorting to an income tax.
Hudspeth County, where 40 per cent of the population is below the poverty line, is like a third world country. County officials were glad to get the jobs and revenues generated by the sludge plant. Some of the residents in Sierra Blanca, as well as environmentalists from everywhere, claim the plant has led to increase rates of illness. Moreover, they claim that the plant generates unwelcome odors. I have been to Sierra Blanca numerous times. I had never detected an unusual order. I cannot comment regarding the health issues.
One of the drivers for hauling the garbage to west Texas was a ruling by the EPA, as well as the appropriate international regulatory bodies, that New York City could no longer dump its garbage in the oceans, which is what they had been doing.
PRR dispr last week i was watching trains at the horseshoe curve, i saw a train with lite blue containers i was told it was a garbage train. this blew my mind a whole train loaded with garbage must have had at least 100 cars. my questions are. 1 where did it come from? 2. where is it going? 3 what do they do with it when it gets there?
last week i was watching trains at the horseshoe curve, i saw a train with lite blue containers i was told it was a garbage train. this blew my mind a whole train loaded with garbage must have had at least 100 cars. my questions are. 1 where did it come from? 2. where is it going? 3 what do they do with it when it gets there?
In all probability it was New York City garbage Enroute to the Sierra Blanca, Texas Sewage Dump. Sierra Blanca is located approximately 88 miles east of El Paso. It is the county seat of Hudspeth County. It is pretty bleak country. I have driven through or stopped in Sierra Blanca more than 100 times. I was there approximately two weeks ago.
About a mile east of Sierra Blanca the UP's Texas & Pacific line from Fort Worth through Midland joins the Sunset line from Houston and San Antonio. It is, amongst other things, a good train watching spot.
The garbage is turned into sludge and spread or buried in an area (ranch) north of town. The UP built a spur to the plant that turns the garbage into sludge. The sludge ranch is operated by Merco. I saw a UP train preparing to depart the sludge ranch (local term) whilst in Sierra Blanca.
The site has provided jobs for a poor area that is rift with unemployment. But it has been controversial. Complaints regarding odors, health problems, pollution, etc. have arisen.
Quick and dirty (no pun intended) answers:
Thanks to present-day environmental concerns, many cities have to dispose of their solid waste at a considerable distance from the source. A 100 car unit train of trash containers is less expensive and controversial than driving 500 garbage trucks over the road (and through other people's communities) as a means for covering the distance.
Trains tend to be invisible. Garbage trucks are anything but...
Chuck
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