PORTSMOUTH — The idea of thousands of tons of New York City trash traveling through Portsmouth sent shudders through many neighborhoods when it was first announced last month.

So at a public meeting about the proposal Thursday night, city officials braced for the worst. They copied hundreds of pamphlets of information. They hosted the forum in the I.C. Norcom High School auditorium, a site capable of holding a large crowd.

But in the end, no more than 20 residents showed up.

That might be because for now, much about the proposal is still in question.

New Jersey-based American Ref-Fuel and the local trash authority have said they would like to build a trash port in either Portsmouth or Chesapeake that would accept containers holding at least 2,500 tons of residential garbage each day.

But for that to happen, American Ref-Fuel first has to be granted a New York City garbage-hauling bid.

Then, it has to decide where to build the port. Right now, it is still considering a private site in Chesapeake and either a part of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal or the former Allied site off Elm Avenue in Portsmouth.

“We are at the very early stages of a process that will probably take two years,” City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. said Thursday.

The few residents who did ask questions Thursday said they’d like to know more about the finances and environmental impact of the idea.

The garbage would be brought to Portsmouth in sealed containers, and then taken to either the Southeastern Public Service Authority’s waste-to-energy plant in Portsmouth or to a new landfill in Camden County, N.C. Several residents said they worried about the increased truck traffic and exhaust, or what would happen if one of the containers spilled open.

“We’ve had enough environmental problems in this city to last a lifetime,” Westbury resident Helen Person told City Council members. “I think you should give it up and think about our children.”

The local garbage authority is interested in the plan because it would offer a stream of revenue after 2006, when the agency will lose several lucrative trash-dumping contracts. American Ref-Fuel would pay the authority a per-ton rate to handle the trash and transport it.

Portsmouth, meanwhile, would get public property back on the tax rolls, and would also receive a per-ton host fee in the range of $1 to $1.25. That would amount to about $1 million annually.

Oliver said the money was why the city was interested in the proposal, but he said the city would weigh a variety of concerns before reaching a conclusion.

Portsmouth has hired a private consultant to assess the situation and gauge everything from the port’s impact on traffic to environmental standards for the sealed containers.

“The staff is not going to recommend a contract that isn’t highly beneficial,” Oliver said. “The whole purpose of pursuing this is it offers the prospect of raising revenue for the city.”

Reach Meghan Hoyer at 446-2293 or meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com.