ANSONIA – A company proposing a solid waste transfer facility on Riverside Drive has postponed a meeting, after neighbors took to social media to say they oppose the plans.

According to a representative for Burns Construction Company, the meeting was postponed because more people responded to a notice than the firm expected.

“Due to greater than anticipated public interest, the previously noticed Public Participation Informational Meeting will be rescheduled and relocated to a larger venue,” Jeffrey Bogoian, the representative, wrote in an email. “The new date and location and location are still being finalized and will be communicated once confirmed.”

According to the initial notice, Burns Construction Company Inc. plans to apply for a permit to operate a transfer facility for contaminated soils and sediments. The facility would be located near the current Burns Construction building on Riverside Drive, according to the notice, in order to transfer waste excavated by nearby utility work.

Connecticut defines a transfer station as a place where solid waste, generated elsewhere, may be stored and later moved to another location.

Click here for more information on solid waste facilities from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Information on the precise plans the company has in mind were hard to decipher this week. The company did not elaborate to this publication, and a DEEP spokesperson said no applications have been received by the agency.

After the initial notice was mailed to nearby neighbors, residents circulated social media posts mostly opposing the proposed facility. Chris Rogers, an Alderman representing the Fifth Ward which includes Riverside Drive and who previously sued Burns Construction Company over a proposal to start a rock-crushing operation in 2021, said he is opposed to the proposal.

“I did tell the consultant that there’s not much good in this, that they want to bring in this hazardous material into the town. There’s been a lot of opposition already,” Rogers said.

There is a history between the company and the neighbors.

A previous proposal for a rock-crushing operation was opposed by Rogers and many neighbors. 

The use was permitted after the company, with the support of former Mayor David Cassetti’s administration, successfully convinced members of the Ansonia Planning and Zoning Commission to add “rock crushing”  as a use in the Riverside Drive industrial zone. Neighbors filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

Rogers, who lives on South Westwood Road near the proposed facility, said he’s continued to encounter quality of life issues in the years since the rock-crushing lawsuit was settled, including problems with dust and noise. 

“We still haven’t gotten what we requested in the settlement,” Rogers said.

Mayor Frank Tyszka’s office sent out a statement Jan. 12 saying his administration is also opposed to the proposed facility.

“I do not support the use of land near residential neighborhoods for waste disposal or soil transfer,” the statement says.

The statement says Tyszka will seek further clarification on the project with state agencies.

Bogoian, the representative for Burns Construction Company, said the firm will send informational pamphlets with more information on the proposed facility once a new meeting date is confirmed.

The original “public informational meeting” had been scheduled for Feb. 5 at Ansonia Library on S. Cliff Street. A new date was not named as of Jan. 13.