Demo begins on Ley Creek site

TOWN OF SALINA – The Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency has begun demolition of the Ley Creek Transfer Station in the town of Salina in preparation for a new facility it projects to open in 2028.
Last Wednesday, Salina Supervisor Nick Paro and officials from OCRRA were on site as demolition equipment picked apart the old facility, which dates back to the 1970s and closed to the public in 2022. The buildings and concrete retaining walls will be removed to make the site “shovel ready” for the new facility.
OCRRA’s Board of Directors has a long-term strategic plan for the site, beginning with a modernized transfer station. The new building will include a 40,000 square foot tipping floor that can manage up to 1,200 tons of waste per day.
Onondaga County’s trash goes to OCRRA’s Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Facility where it is converted into enough electricity to power roughly 30,000 households. Waste that cannot be managed at the WTE Facility, including some construction and demolition debris, may be segregated for reuse or recycling, or transferred to a landfill.
As work continues on the new transfer station, OCRRA is planning a parallel project on 11.5 acres of land surrounding the Ley Creek site that it purchased in 2023. If completed that facility would be used to as a single location for the recovery and recycling of hard-to-manage materials, such as batteries, household hazardous waste, electronics, film plastics and paint. Currently, residents must take those materials, and many others, to different drop-off points spread across Onondaga County.
“We don’t have unlimited capacity for trash in Onondaga County, but the stream of waste coming to us isn’t slowing down,” said OCRRA Executive Director Kevin Spillane. “We can make it easier for everyone to reduce waste by creating a campus at Ley Creek that has the potential to accept, manage and even sell more materials. That vision begins with a new transfer station.”
OCRRA Director of Engineering Cristina Albunio said the process for removing and rebuilding a waste management site is a lengthy process that has close oversight by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
“There are a series of required permits and regulations to address along the way, from demolition through the design and construction phases,” Albunio said. “We’re anticipating the new transfer station is on track to open by 2028.”
The Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA) is a non-profit, public benefit corporation created by the New York State Legislature to oversee solid waste management and the resource recovery system for Onondaga County. Residents or haulers and municipal crews that pick up common household waste can drop off the material at OCRRA sites for proper management. Drop-off fees help pay for operations at OCRRA, which is not taxpayer funded.
Paro said he was encouraged to see the development of the site, which has been dormant since 2022, and is hopeful that bringing the transfer station back on line will help boost traffic and business activity along the 7th North Street corridor.
“OCRRA’s Ley Creek Transfer Station site provides a service of convenience for many in Salina and the surrounding community,” Paro said. “We’re excited for this re-development, and hopeful that it will grow into a larger solid waste campus in years to come. Salina is growing and we are grateful to have a strong and forward-thinking partner in OCRRA.”