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Mission and Responsibilities

The Authority is a public body corporate and politic of the State, which was created by an ordinance of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Union (the “County”), adopted on June 5, 1986, as amended on December 11, 1986. The Authority has been designated by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County as the implementing agency for the Union County District Solid Waste Management Plan (the “Plan”) and is empowered to plan, acquire, construct, maintain and operate (or cause to be planned, acquired, constructed, maintained and operated) facilities for the processing, disposal and/or recycling of solid waste throughout the County in an environmentally sound manner.

The Plan includes a mass-burn solid waste disposal, resource recovery and electric generation facility (the “Facility”), located in at 1499 Routes 1 & 9 North, Rahway, New Jersey. The Facility, which is owned by the Authority, includes three mass-burn, waterwall boilers and a turbine-generator nominally rated at 45 megawatts. The Facility has a permitted processing capacity of 1,540 tons of solid waste per day, or approximately 562,000 tons per year. The Authority formerly managed the Facility as part of an integrated solid waste management system for the County. The Facility is currently leased to and operated by Covanta Union, Inc.

In accordance with the Plan, the Authority has the exclusive right to control and provide for the disposal of solid waste generated within the geographic boundaries of the County, including all non-recycled solid waste “Type 10” (municipal), “Type 13” (bulky waste), “Type 13C” (construction/demolition), “Type 23” (vegetative), “Type 25” (animal and food processing) and “Type 27” (dry industrial) (each as defined by the NJDEP). Due to the Authority’s considerable expertise as the implementing agency for the Plan, the Authority has been designated by the County, with the approval of the State, as the entity responsible for the inspection, investigation and enforcement of solid waste flow control directives for all of the above noted solid waste Types generated within the County.

Enforcement officers within the Authority’s Division of Solid Waste Enforcement conduct daily inspections and/or investigations of solid waste facilities, transporters and generators, and investigate complaints generated within the County regarding the collection and disposal of County-generated solid waste. The Authority routinely evaluates its enforcement efforts, assessing both existing and potential diversion of waste from the solid waste system. The Authority works with Covanta, adjacent counties’ enforcement agencies, and the NJDEP to further its efforts to focus on possible illegal solid waste diversion and to more effectively coordinate regional solid waste enforcement measures.

The Authority will continue to utilize its delegated regulatory authority, in conjunction with the County of Union, to issue appropriate administrative penalties and, when necessary to ensure compliance, to institute litigation seeking penalties, damages, and injunctive relief against individuals and entities violating the County’s waste flow.