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7830 STATE ROUTE 434 POSTAL CUSTOMER APALACHIN, NY
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APALACHIN • OWEGO • NICHOLS CAMPVILLE • BARTON • CANDOR
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Volume 35 FEBRUARY 2020 Number 2

2020 Leadership Tioga Program After the Fire . . .
Southern Tier Recycling Vows to Rebuild
its Recycling Plant in Apalachin

Leadership Tioga held its kick-off class project for this year which will The company will continue to play a other merchant facilities. It is now pay-
session last month. include community service for a non- leadership role in the Southern Tier’s ing to have the recyclables transported
Run by the Tioga County Chamber profit organization in Tioga County. recycling industry. between 80-100 miles to other facilities
of Commerce, the Leadership Tioga This year’s class has 22 attendees On the evening of Friday January 3, a in the region and is paying $110 per ton
Program is committed to inspiring and from the area, including a student from fire quickly swept through Southern Tier to the facilities to process its material.
connecting participants to services in the Owego Free Academy. Recycling’s (STR) plant in Tioga Coun- Previously, STR accepted the material
community by promoting personal The class of 2020 Leadership Tioga ty. Despite valiant efforts by the Apala- and used its own equipment to process
growth, leadership development, net- participants are: Ian Barrett-Sargent, chin Fire Department and many other and then sell the sorted material. Exacer-
working, and skill building. Heather Davis, Glenda Ford, Gary Frey, area fire departments, the $4.5 million, bating the situation is the worldwide
Various class locations throughout Vincent Gennett, Megan Griffiths, Ab- 30,000-square-foot facility was a total market price depression for recycling
the county give participants the oppor- bey Hendrickson, Kylie Holochak, loss. Fortunately, the facility was closed products as a result of China’s, the world
tunity to learn more about what Tioga Michele Hughston, Krista Kelley, Julie at the time of the fire and there were no largest purchaser of recyclable material,
County has to offer. Dynamic speakers Kipling, Matt Kisloski, David Lemmon, injuries. Investigators currently believe forbidding the importation of much of
discuss topics such as professional lead- Emily Mantei, Michelle Pelton, Mere- that the fire was ignited by a crushed the United States’ recycling. This has
ership, volunteerism, performance man- dith Sagor, Daniel Scherrer, Lynn lithium battery or a discarded mobile caused a glut in the market and has driv-
agement, public safety, and human ser- Schiess, Rebecca Staudt, Gregory Tifft, telephone. en commodity prices down, in some
vices. Michelle Vandebogart, and Isaac Weber. There are scores of recycling facili- cases to unprofitable levels and even
The class heard from speaker Robert For information, contact the Tioga ties nationwide that experience similar where there is no revenue at all received
Williams on the importance of commu- County Chamber of Commerce at 687- fires as STR from crushed batteries. for some commodities.
nity and volunteerism. 2020 or info@tiogachamber.com. Once a spark is ignited, the contents of Previously, STR covered its expenses
Facilitator Jill Teeter introduced the the building, paper and plastics provide by marketing its sorted material to world
the fuel to destroy the facility even with markets. This allowed STR to accept
Shared Services Building Update the presence of fire suppression equip- most of the incoming material at no
charge to its customers. Instead of sell-
ment in the building. However, STR
by Donald Castellucci, Jr. - Town of Owego Supervisor emphasized that despite this unfortunate ing its material, it is now paying approx-
event, the company is making every imately $157 per ton to get Southern
accommodation possible to continue the Tier’s recyclables processed and availa-
smooth operation of services until the ble to the market. This is an untenable
new facility is up and running. situation; the company cannot afford to
Robert Taylor Jr., president of South- continue this practice for any extended
ern Tier Recycling, stated, “The loss of period. On an interim basis, STR will be
the Southern Tier Recycling facility was charging a fee to accept recycling until
a devastating event in the history of our the new facility is open. However, other
company; however, the area’s recycling recycling plants in the Northeast like
programs will continue to be unimpeded STR are currently charging between
and all of our recycling partners across $100-$135 per ton for processing only.
the region should continue business as Should STR not reopen and no other
As you can see when you drive by the been completed, the water has been tested usual, as we will.” facility with adequate capacity opens in
Owego Town Hall, the new Shared Ser- and will be connected in the upcoming To allow the uninterrupted collection the area, residents of the Southern Tier
vices Building is moving along as weeks. and processing of area recyclables, STR area could find themselves paying $160
planned. The project is pretty much on The directional boring project costs repurposed its adjacent waste transfer to $200 per ton to have the recyclables
schedule other than some site work issues were reduced by approximately $142,000 station for recyclables on the following used again.
that were resolved in the beginning of the dollars from the original bid. This project Monday, January 6. STR is pleased to While the interruption caused by the
project. will also allow water and sewer to be run report that recyclable volumes received fire is truly unfortunate for the residents
Over the next few weeks, you will see in part of the 434 corridor for future de- at the transfer station are consistent with of the Southern Tier, STR is moving as
the completion of the steel erection, ma- velopment. The cost of the shared ser- previous volumes despite the force quickly as possible to support the area’s
sonry work continuing and the foundation vices project is on budget with no major majeure conditions. This process will recycling program’s return to normalcy.
work completed. You will also see the issues to date. It is anticipated that the continue until the new facility is con-
wall and roof panels being installed as building should be operational by August structed, equipped and opened. STR
well. Of course, all of this schedule is with a total takeover by the Town in Oc- believes that the $5 million reconstruct-
weather permitting. tober. I will continue to update residents ed facility will be operational in the
The directional boring and sewer and on the project over the next few months fourth quarter of this year.
water connections are nearing comple- along with the second phase work as Presently, STR has to accept and load
tion. The Town hall sewer connection has well. the incoming volume to be delivered to

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