Mar. 28—Without debate or dissent, the Niagara Falls Planning Board unanimously approved a site plan Wednesday night for the construction of a new waste transfer facility in LaSalle.

The approval follows a public hearing two weeks ago that saw virtually no opposition to Youngstown businessman John Battaglia’s plan. Battaglia, who operates waste transfer facilities in Buffalo, Rochester, Tonawanda and Lockport, says his proposed new facility will be a roughly $3 million to $4 million project and provide Falls residents with a new option for disposing of debris and recycling materials.

The project, which would be constructed at 540 56th St., features a 16,000-square-foot building designed for the receipt and transfer of municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris and single-stream recycling primarily associated with infrastructure. It would also feature a canopied staging area for trucks to bring the waste in and out of the facility.

“Everything would be done inside the building,” Battaglia said. “We would screen all materials coming into the facility to make sure they are appropriate (for handling).”

Battaglia said the facility would have eight full-time employees and have an average of 15 trucks on site. He said the facility was designed for all the trucks to “queue up on-site”, to eliminate any on-street parking issues and that the canopied staging areas would help control potential dust.”

“It’s going to be very basic (in its operation),” Battaglia said. “It’s going to be very clean. There will be no liquids leaving the facility.”

The developer said noise and traffic studies for the proposed transfer station showed an expected “insignificant increase” in traffic and noise levels “substantially below” city ordinances.

“Everything transported in will be transported out by the end of every day,” Battaglia previously assured the Planning Board.

He said he has already begun the process of obtaining the necessary permits from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

“We had our pre-application meeting and we’re awaiting further comment from the DEC,” Battaglia said.