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Yesterday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s (PANYNJ) board authorized the purchase and redevelopment of Greenville Yards in Jersey City, N.J.

The century-old rail yard will “serve as the lynchpin” for removing up to 360,000 trash trucks annually from trans-Hudson crossings and New Jersey highways beginning in 2013 by moving New York City’s waste in sealed containers via barge and rail, PANYNJ officials said in a prepared statement. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently called on the port authority to build a barge-to-rail facility at Greenville Yards.

The yard serves as the western terminus for New York New Jersey Rail L.L.C., which is owned by PANYNJ and operates the last cross-harbor car float system on the Hudson River. The authority’s board authorized $118.1 million to purchase land for the project and support the existing rail-car float system operating between Greenville Yards and Brooklyn.

PANYNJ plans to build a barge-to-rail facility at the yard and upgrade track to enable municipal solid waste and other commodities to be barged from New York to New Jersey in watertight sealed containers, and moved out of New Jersey by rail via CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. Currently, the majority of New York City’s waste is trucked. New York City plans to ship an estimated 120,000 to 180,000 containers of solid waste annually through two barge-to-rail transfer points on the western side of the port complex.

“This facility gives us a once-in-a-lifetime chance to maximize our waterways and rail systems and take up to 360,000 trash trucks off New Jersey’s major highways each year,” said PANYNJ Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, PANYNJ’s board also re-elected Anthony Coscia as chairman; Stanley Grayson as vice chairman; Christopher Ward as executive director; and Darrell Buchbinder as general counsel.