Cuomo demands action on odors in Hunts Point
Now New York State is suing NYOFCo in an effort to end the foul smells that have plagued Hunts Point.
The state attorney general Andrew Cuomo has filed suit in State Supreme Court in the Bronx against the company, whose distinctive red and white smokestack has drawn community anger for years. The suit, announced on Feb. 5, against both the New York Organic Fertilizer Company and its parent company Synagro Technologies charges that the odors are a public nuisance that disrupt the life of residents, schools and libraries and nearby Barretto Point Park.
The charges echo those in a lawsuit filed last summer by the Natural Resources Defense Council on behalf of Mothers on the Move.
“The NYOFCo facility has been a foul and persistent threat to Hunts Point for years,” said Cuomo. “The stench has plagued the community,making simple activities like opening windows, walking to school or enjoying a local park not only unpleasant, but an actual health risk. Through this lawsuit my office is joining with the residents of the South Bronx to protect their right to clean and healthy air.”
In a written statement released by their law firm, Beveridge and Diamond, Synagro and NYOFCo stated that although the companies “are still reviewing the complaint…[they] deny that the NYOFCo facility is in violation of law. The facility has taken, and will continue to take, proactive measures to ensure that it is in compliance with its permits and applicable law, and is a good neighbor in the community.”
Elected officials and advocates applauded the suit.
In announcing his intervention, Cuomo cited Miquela Craytor, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, Kellie Terry-Sepulveda, executive managing director of The Point CDC, Cerita Parker, Hunts Point resident and a member of Mothers on the Move, and Al Huang, the Natural Resources Defense Council attorney, all of whom applauded his action.
“Our community has been plagued by the stench of the NYOFCo facility for far too long,” said Congressman Jose E. Serrano, who said he reached out to Cuomo for help several months ago.
“Progress in this struggle has been achieved as a result of collective action amongst community groups, the State of New York, and local elected officials. We applaud Attorney General Cuomo for joining our efforts to eliminate NYOFCoís stench and to reclaim our communityís quality of life,” said Terry-Sepulveda.
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation also welcomed the lawsuit, saying in a statement that the new suit would complement its own efforts to work “to address the problems that have plagued this community.”
“This administration places a high priority on promoting environmental justice to protect over-burdened communities from environmental harm,” said DEC Regional Director Suzanne Mattei, in a statement. “This plant has been the subject of repeated odor complaints, and we are taking steps we view as necessary to address the problem.”
The DEC recently renewed NYOFCo’s solid waste permit with tighter restrictions that include:
- installation of a mechanical monitoring system at the plant to allow quicker response time to foul smells,
- hiring an engineer to oversee the plant’s compliance with regulations,
- and imposing stricter control over trucks that deliver sludge to the plant.
In addition, the agency has issued an invitation for public comments on the plan’ts new air pollution permit. The new permit would require NYOFCo to meet performance standards for pollution control, test its stack for chemical emissions, and expand the role of a bilingual Odor Response Monitor, who would have to be available around the clock.
NYOFCo can challenge the new provisions in an administrative proceeding.
The DEC’s final step will be a proposed modification to the facility’s solid waste permit, that will require more specific odor monitoring and control measures, Mattei said.
Members of the public will have until March 6 to comment on the draft air pollution permit. They can submit written comments to:
Elizabeth Clark
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
47-40 21st St.
Long Island City, NY 11101-5407
Or, residents can call the DEC’s permits office, at 718-482-4079.