Judge Grants N.Y. 2 Days to Inspect Garbage Barge
A barge carrying 3,186 tons of Long Island garbage that has already been turned away by three countries and five states will remain anchored in New York Harbor for at least two more days, a Queens Supreme Court judge ruled today.
Judge Angelo Graci approved a request by New York City to give health officials two days to inspect the garbage before deciding what to do with the industrial refuse. He scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.
“We want to do our own health inspection and do it now,” said Doron Gopstein, a lawyer for the city.
After the health inspection, he said, “We’ll be back here in two days to tell the court our position.”
The tugboat Break of Dawn and its load of industrial garbage has been wandering the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico since March 22 looking for a place to unload. It has been turned away from ports in North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Mexico, Belize and the Bahamas.
The barge was anchored in Gravesend Bay off Coney Island and a Coast Guard official said it will remain there pending a decision on what to do with it.
The barge had planned to unload in Long Island City on the East River and have the waste trucked to a landfill in Islip on Long Island, where most of it originated.
But the Borough of Queens objected and was granted a temporary restraining order Saturday preventing the barge from docking.
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