Is Treecycle closed?
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Website has "Closed for the season" on it. Seems they closed at the end of 2010.
I'd leave a voicemail or email message for them to contact you when they re-open.
I'd leave a voicemail or email message for them to contact you when they re-open.
I tried several time to order pellet's for my store several weeks ago and no one answered and the voice mails was disconnected. I did manage to leave a massage on Mikes phone and he did return my call. He did not say that they are going out of business to me. But did say they had some sort of trouble and could fill my order but what was left would be it. So take it for what it worth.I decided to continue buying Lignectics from my True Value warehouse instead.
They had two loaders on the premises, which have both been used at various times to move raw material. They went missing from the property in the past week.
I saw Mike Z removing what looked like office supplies (like a person cleaning their desk out) in the past week also. There were two civil lawsuits filed against them on Feb 1 2011, one for failure to pay their wood chip supplier S K Forest Products Pen Argyl PA, about $33,500, and their vehicle repair company for parts & labor (A Scott, Pen Argyl PA) for about $12,300.
The plant failed its stack tests on May 18, 2010 and Oct 14, 2010 for particulate emissions, and was operating above the sound level limits as of Nov 2010. Further, residents reported vibration in their homes from the plant. Often, the stench was so bad I couldn't stay outside my house for more than 30 minutes, and I live over a half mile away. While Treecycle claims to be a "Green" company, many residents feel it was quite the opposite.
This plant was poorly located, right next to several homes and a large residential development. I found a report dated Feb 2008, in which Taggart tried to get approval over in NJ to build a pellet furnace on his property there, but failed.
www.nj.gov/dep/cleanair/minutes/min_​0801.pdf
Shortly thereafter, the plant here in Nazareth was constructed. Early on, when pallets and construction waste were being ground up, the emissions of the plant caused burning in my nose on my property, and the zoning officer reported a woman came in with her son's eyes watering, and a neighborhood child with asthma had an attack attributed to the plant. The feedstock was cleaned up this past year, but still pools had layers of debris from the stack, and a neighbor's car was covered with what looked like toothpicks one day.
These people never got their act together. While Taggart may have wanted to recycle things like stumps and old pallets, IMO he sabotaged the business by producing a poor product for too long. Ironically, once he finally used quality raw material, he was unable to pay the supplier. Many residents won't be unhappy if the plant closes. Others will be upset, but the Great American Pellet plant in Palmerton should be opening right about now. I visited there, and it is built in an almost 100% industrial area, unlike Treecycle.
A neighbor reported seeing about 100 tons of pellets in the warehouse 4 weeks ago - I saw one load of 22 ton leave, so they probably are whittling that down and that will be it.
I saw Mike Z removing what looked like office supplies (like a person cleaning their desk out) in the past week also. There were two civil lawsuits filed against them on Feb 1 2011, one for failure to pay their wood chip supplier S K Forest Products Pen Argyl PA, about $33,500, and their vehicle repair company for parts & labor (A Scott, Pen Argyl PA) for about $12,300.
The plant failed its stack tests on May 18, 2010 and Oct 14, 2010 for particulate emissions, and was operating above the sound level limits as of Nov 2010. Further, residents reported vibration in their homes from the plant. Often, the stench was so bad I couldn't stay outside my house for more than 30 minutes, and I live over a half mile away. While Treecycle claims to be a "Green" company, many residents feel it was quite the opposite.
This plant was poorly located, right next to several homes and a large residential development. I found a report dated Feb 2008, in which Taggart tried to get approval over in NJ to build a pellet furnace on his property there, but failed.
www.nj.gov/dep/cleanair/minutes/min_​0801.pdf
Shortly thereafter, the plant here in Nazareth was constructed. Early on, when pallets and construction waste were being ground up, the emissions of the plant caused burning in my nose on my property, and the zoning officer reported a woman came in with her son's eyes watering, and a neighborhood child with asthma had an attack attributed to the plant. The feedstock was cleaned up this past year, but still pools had layers of debris from the stack, and a neighbor's car was covered with what looked like toothpicks one day.
These people never got their act together. While Taggart may have wanted to recycle things like stumps and old pallets, IMO he sabotaged the business by producing a poor product for too long. Ironically, once he finally used quality raw material, he was unable to pay the supplier. Many residents won't be unhappy if the plant closes. Others will be upset, but the Great American Pellet plant in Palmerton should be opening right about now. I visited there, and it is built in an almost 100% industrial area, unlike Treecycle.
A neighbor reported seeing about 100 tons of pellets in the warehouse 4 weeks ago - I saw one load of 22 ton leave, so they probably are whittling that down and that will be it.
The future does not look promising for Treecycle. Recent issues:
-They were put under a cease & desist order relating to noise from the plant and Taggart offered to erect a steel baricade. $$$$$$$$
-The township of Plainfield PA hired a full-time inspector to monitor noise and fumes at the plant at a cost of $68.00 per hour to the town. If you're looking to have positive relations with taxpayers, that is just a little counterproductive
-Motor vehicle lawsuit: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2011cv00665/404117/ It looks like routine personal injury which should be covered by insurance, but it's another in a littany of problems
-Fire claim: they had a fire at the plant last July.
I drive by the wood recycling facility on Route 31 Glenn Gardner NJ and don't even see it running. It may still be there, I don't know, taking your eyes off the road for a prolonged period at 50MPH isn't a bright idea.
-They were put under a cease & desist order relating to noise from the plant and Taggart offered to erect a steel baricade. $$$$$$$$
-The township of Plainfield PA hired a full-time inspector to monitor noise and fumes at the plant at a cost of $68.00 per hour to the town. If you're looking to have positive relations with taxpayers, that is just a little counterproductive
-Motor vehicle lawsuit: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/pennsylvania/paedce/2:2011cv00665/404117/ It looks like routine personal injury which should be covered by insurance, but it's another in a littany of problems
-Fire claim: they had a fire at the plant last July.
I drive by the wood recycling facility on Route 31 Glenn Gardner NJ and don't even see it running. It may still be there, I don't know, taking your eyes off the road for a prolonged period at 50MPH isn't a bright idea.
richg said:
Regarding (1) and (2), they had a cease and desist first in 2009 also, and erected sound barriers. This brought the sound level just within spec, and it was somewhat tolerable at 1/2 mile away - don't know about the immediate neighbors. That C & D was dropped. They had the fire you mention in July, which destroyed a barrier around one structure. They were up and running within two weeks, but never replaced the barrier. This put them back over the dB limit, and maybe they didn't have the $$$ to replace it (even though they had insurance). So another C & D was issued in Oct 10. T/C appealed, and the C & D was suspended pending reconstruction. If T/C continued running in violation, the C & D would be reinstated.
The Township Zoning Officer has some serious health issues, which is why it was approved to hire a non-partisan sound level taker in the interim - official readings are needed in a Court and a C & D is a big deal for the business. This person was to be *available* "full time", but ONLY to come out IF the plant was running and take A reading each day. *Not* stand there all day. The plant wasn't even running at this time - it was in case they turned around and started running at full volume, which they said they would do IF large orders came in. Evidently, they did not.
Regarding (3), the mail that was being delivered to Glen Gardner location is being forwarded with the "Notify Sender of Address" labels to Nazareth PA. I have seen it. Many vehicles not needed for pellet opertations (trailers, dump truck, Case CX160 excavator) were moved to the Nazareth property mid 2010, and the rumor was that Glen Gardner's facility had been closed because it cost tens of thousands per month to keep open.
Are there still signs of vehicles (or anything) at Glen Gardner, richg? Thanks for that motor vehicle info.
It was a Kawasaki motorcycle coming into contact with a T/C tractor trailer on Aug 23, 2010 near 2906 William Penn Hwy in Easton. The injuries do not appear to be as serious as they could be, but it is a lawsuit nonetheless. Not something they need on top of everything else. There are a littanty of claims against the operator of the vehicle, as well as T/C for allowing the driver to operate the vehicle. There are no claims about the fitness or legality of the truck, from what I can see. The docket is at the Eastern PA District Court website, which you need an account to see.richg said:
They were lucky in that it doesn't seem to have been reported in the news.
I drove by the Glen Gardner recycling facility again today and did not see any evidence of operations. as before, this is a 50MPH stretch of road and you can't really stop and stare. they might still be there, they might not be.
Rich - which lot was theirs? I stopped by Glen Gardner two days ago for the first time, and could see no evidence of Treecycle. There are two roads going into the industrial center, and up the hill. To the left of the left one, there are 8 tractor trailers that look like permanent storage, and to the left of that a few VERY large tree stumps and tree trunks. Nothing else anywhere looked like it was inactive or a recycling facility to me.richg said:
Treecycle leased the Glen Gardner spot, and my understanding is that they moved completely out of Glen Gardner at least 6 months ago. The mail addressed to Glen Gardner is being forwarded by the USPS to Nazareth, so it doesn't make sense Glen Gardner is in the picture at all at this point.
The Nazareth plant is a ghost town, and the facility is completely empty of anything except 6 broken pallets of pellets and a backhoe. Two nights ago, every light in the building was on and the doors were wide open...
AG,
Their lot was all the way at the top of the hill in the back left. There used to be huge dumpsters, excavators, front end loaders etc all over the place. This is a shame....I had talked to them years ago when I needed to get rid of some serious amounts of yard waste, and it seemed like the recycling operations were doing well. This was back when the pellet mill was on the drawing board. I can't imagine how much cash went into the mill as that machinery is not cheap, and then throw in wages, benefits, land/rent, mobile equipment, legal fees, insurance, etc etc etc. I do not like seeing businesses fail. That was somebody's dream.
Their lot was all the way at the top of the hill in the back left. There used to be huge dumpsters, excavators, front end loaders etc all over the place. This is a shame....I had talked to them years ago when I needed to get rid of some serious amounts of yard waste, and it seemed like the recycling operations were doing well. This was back when the pellet mill was on the drawing board. I can't imagine how much cash went into the mill as that machinery is not cheap, and then throw in wages, benefits, land/rent, mobile equipment, legal fees, insurance, etc etc etc. I do not like seeing businesses fail. That was somebody's dream.
I talked with Mike a couple of days ago, and yes they are done. It is a shame, they were getting the pellets really fine tuned! I had to go to Ace to get a few things and asked about pricing on their Lignetics......they were only 245.00 so I ended up picking up a ton. Seems there was some financial issues with the other plant I believe....not quite sure.....will miss him though....like my last report showed....these latest 2011 pellets were hot and burned nicely. Less ash then my older Lignetics that were all hardwood. The new lignetics are green label but say hardwood sawdust and conifer blend????? What is connifer?
Jim H.
Jim H.
Typical examples of conifers include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauris, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews
Very sad to hear that there done. I was hoping for a plant tour someday. Have to wish Mike and all the TreeCycle folks well. Mike I sure hope you stay in the pellet business.
What stinks is more jobs lost.
What stinks is more jobs lost.
Rich - the lot you speak of in Glen Gardner has a new tenant, I believe. There were a bunch of vehicles up there, like school buses and stuff. The loader and excavator were moved to Nazareth about 5-6 months ago. The loader was reposessed a few weeks ago, along with a smaller one that has been used in Nazareth for the past 2-1/2 years.
jake - Nobody likes to see jobs leave. These folks didn't employ very many people. They had dreams of like 20-30, I think. But I don't think they had more than a couple of employees, other than the owners and the office girl. The plant would run full steam from 7am to 10pm on a Saturday. and only Mike Z's truck in the parking lot. I know one employee walked to work.
On the Treecycle website, they linked to a press release in which the owner said there would be "no noise, no smoke, and no odor." Unfortunately, these were ALL a major issue once the plant began operation. Some people claimed the residents were unreasonable, but it is an undeniable fact that they exceeded the sound level limits that have been on the books for years, they exceeded the DEP particulate emissions in two different stack tests, including Fall 2010, and the plant stank like a son of a gun. This plant was poorly situated, and it appears not enough work was put into its planning. It also took a long time to get the kinks worked out - insufficient financing was likely another major issue. Hate to see any business fail, but this one would definitely benefit from being situated in a different location. Moving it would be a daunting task, but it is likely not economically feasible where it is - operating after 10pm is not an option if the neighbors are going to get any sleep.
jake - Nobody likes to see jobs leave. These folks didn't employ very many people. They had dreams of like 20-30, I think. But I don't think they had more than a couple of employees, other than the owners and the office girl. The plant would run full steam from 7am to 10pm on a Saturday. and only Mike Z's truck in the parking lot. I know one employee walked to work.
On the Treecycle website, they linked to a press release in which the owner said there would be "no noise, no smoke, and no odor." Unfortunately, these were ALL a major issue once the plant began operation. Some people claimed the residents were unreasonable, but it is an undeniable fact that they exceeded the sound level limits that have been on the books for years, they exceeded the DEP particulate emissions in two different stack tests, including Fall 2010, and the plant stank like a son of a gun. This plant was poorly situated, and it appears not enough work was put into its planning. It also took a long time to get the kinks worked out - insufficient financing was likely another major issue. Hate to see any business fail, but this one would definitely benefit from being situated in a different location. Moving it would be a daunting task, but it is likely not economically feasible where it is - operating after 10pm is not an option if the neighbors are going to get any sleep.
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