Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station
Encyclopedia
The Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station (UCRTS) is a municipal waste transfer facility located at Massachusetts Military Reservation
on Cape Cod
. The facility is within the town limits of Falmouth
, but on state-owned land at the southern end of the military reservation, and is about a mile west of the Falmouth entrance gate. It is one of two truck-to-rail trash transfer facilities on Cape Cod, with the other in Yarmouth
.
plant in Rochester
, Massachusetts
.
The facility is owned jointly by the four Upper Cape Cod towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich. It is managed under the oversight of the Cape Cod Commission
, the state's regional planning, regulatory and permitting agency for the Cape Cod district. A four-person board of managers—one from each of the four Upper Cape towns—administers the transfer facility's operation and finances. Bourne has its own municipal landfill and does not bring any waste to the station, but maintains its seat on the board of managers and contributes to the costs of running the facility in order to preserve its future participation options.
The transfer station was built and opened in 1989 following the EPA's mandated closure of unlined landfills in the early 1980s, after which many Cape Cod communities signed agreements to send their municipal waste to SEMASS. The UCRTS, through consolidation of trash receipts, was intended to minimize the number of garbage trucks making round trips between their respective towns and SEMASS to conserve fuel, lower transportation costs, reduce vehicle exhaust pollution, and mitigate traffic congestion on and near the two bridges spanning the Cape Cod Canal
. Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, a subsidiary of Cape Rail Inc., is the rail service provider for the UCRTS and is contracted by the four towns to transport a minimum of 40,000 combined tons of waste annually.
As of June 2010 the station is operated by two Falmouth Department of Public Works employees. According to an April 2010 commission report, the UCRTS takes in 36,519 tons of municipal waste annually. The total cost to operate the station is about $300,000 annually.
The towns served by the UCRTS have 30-year disposal contracts with SEMASS that are set to expire between 2015 and 2016. As of 2010 the present-day per-ton rates paid by the towns are all well below market rates, and new agreements will be far more expensive. The Cape Cod Commission is exploring future means of trash disposal for all 15 towns within the district, including transport to out-of-state facilities, but most of the options under consideration would retain and perhaps expand use of the UCRTS.
Massachusetts Military Reservation
The Massachusetts Military Reservation, is a military reservation created by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States War Department in 1935. Governor James Curley signed the state bill to allocate and purchase land for a military facility, and establishing a formal commission to...
on Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
. The facility is within the town limits of Falmouth
Falmouth, Massachusetts
Falmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States; Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 31,531 at the 2010 census....
, but on state-owned land at the southern end of the military reservation, and is about a mile west of the Falmouth entrance gate. It is one of two truck-to-rail trash transfer facilities on Cape Cod, with the other in Yarmouth
Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Yarmouth is a New England town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 24,807 at the 2000 census....
.
Overview
The facility takes in trash truck deliveries from the towns of Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich, as well as the military reservation's tenants. Independent commercial haulers also deliver solid waste to the facility and are billed by the UCRTS on a tonnage basis. Trash is transferred to railroad hopper cars and transported to the SEMASS waste-to-energyWaste-to-energy
Waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source. WtE is a form of energy recovery...
plant in Rochester
Rochester, Massachusetts
Rochester is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,232 at the 2010 census.-History:Rochester was settled in 1679 on the lands called "Sippican" by the local Wampanoags, along the coast of Buzzards Bay...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
The facility is owned jointly by the four Upper Cape Cod towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich. It is managed under the oversight of the Cape Cod Commission
Cape Cod Commission
The Cape Cod Commission is a regional planning authority created in 1990 by an Act of the Massachusetts General Court and confirmed by a majority of Barnstable County voters....
, the state's regional planning, regulatory and permitting agency for the Cape Cod district. A four-person board of managers—one from each of the four Upper Cape towns—administers the transfer facility's operation and finances. Bourne has its own municipal landfill and does not bring any waste to the station, but maintains its seat on the board of managers and contributes to the costs of running the facility in order to preserve its future participation options.
The transfer station was built and opened in 1989 following the EPA's mandated closure of unlined landfills in the early 1980s, after which many Cape Cod communities signed agreements to send their municipal waste to SEMASS. The UCRTS, through consolidation of trash receipts, was intended to minimize the number of garbage trucks making round trips between their respective towns and SEMASS to conserve fuel, lower transportation costs, reduce vehicle exhaust pollution, and mitigate traffic congestion on and near the two bridges spanning the Cape Cod Canal
Cape Cod Canal
The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts.Part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the canal is roughly 17.4 miles long and connects Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south...
. Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, a subsidiary of Cape Rail Inc., is the rail service provider for the UCRTS and is contracted by the four towns to transport a minimum of 40,000 combined tons of waste annually.
As of June 2010 the station is operated by two Falmouth Department of Public Works employees. According to an April 2010 commission report, the UCRTS takes in 36,519 tons of municipal waste annually. The total cost to operate the station is about $300,000 annually.
The towns served by the UCRTS have 30-year disposal contracts with SEMASS that are set to expire between 2015 and 2016. As of 2010 the present-day per-ton rates paid by the towns are all well below market rates, and new agreements will be far more expensive. The Cape Cod Commission is exploring future means of trash disposal for all 15 towns within the district, including transport to out-of-state facilities, but most of the options under consideration would retain and perhaps expand use of the UCRTS.