Ozinga Materials Inc. is seeking to develop and operate a unique waste transfer station at which barge loads of baled and plastic-wrapped solid waste coming from the Chicago area would be transloaded directly onto flatbed trailers and then hauled by truck to an area landfill. At full capacity, the facility could generate some 56 new jobs for truck drivers and dockworkers, according to planning estimates. The city also would receive a 3.3 percent share of the terminal fees for material passing through the Port of Henry.
The waste would come from Chicago-area transfer stations where it would be compressed and wrapped in polyethylene in cubes approximately four feet on each side and weighing about 1.7 tons apiece. “So there is no loose waste at any time. It is simply a matter of taking baled, wrapped waste off of barges and loading it onto flatbed trailers,” Ozinga attorney George Mueller said at a recent local public hearing conducted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The wrapping makes the bales effectively air- and water-tight, and it can be easily repaired with heavy tape if damaged, said project engineer John Hock of Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. in Naperville. They would contain no hazardous materials, liquids, PCBs, oils, batteries, tires, or other special waste, he emphasized. “We’ll only be accepting municipal solid waste, ” he said, “just the typical stuff that everybody throws out in daily use.”