By Joe Hirsch
joehirsch6@yahoo.com
Photo by Stephen Baron
The New York Organic Fertilizer Company plant.
The public comment period on NYOFCo’s solid waste permit is slated to end August 25, after which the state Department of Environmental Conservation says it will incorporate residents’ concerns into its revisions. Concerned citizens can weigh in with their comments via mail, fax or email, to:
Michelle Moore
Environmental Analyst
NYSDEC Region 2
Long Island City, NY 11101
R2dep@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Fax: 718-482-4975
The revisions being proposed by NYSDEC are as follows:
Enhanced operational standards of odor devices:
• Keeping its doors closed at all times, and monitoring negative pressure continuously with an alarm system.
• Storing spare parts for odor control devices on the site.
• Making available an alternative power source, such as an electric generator, to run the odor scrubber and related treatment units.
• Installing a spare odor-treatment unit.
• Installing a silo ventilation unit.
Clearer requirements for plant operation and training:
• Preventing trucks from queuing on the street.
• Storing biosolids in a processing building and in silos, rather than outside.
• Cleaning spills from trucks within 15 minutes of their spilling.
• Enhanced emergency and evacuation planning.
• Better coordination of sludge delivery between DEP and NYOFCo, in order to prevent sludge buildup at the plant.
New Odor Monitoring System that will:
• Include a full-time odor response monitor.
• Function as a daily operational requirement for monitoring and a real-time feedback tool to help abate odors.
Strong Requirements for notification and reporting:
• NYOFCo must maintain a sludge pellet management log that documents the quantity and time of all sludge deliveries.
• NOFCo must notify NYSDEC by email as soon as practicable, but in no case later than three hours after the onset of an emergency or upset condition.
A draft of the Solid Waste Management Permit renewal is available for review by the public at:
Bronx Community Board 2
1029 163rd St, Rm 202
Congressman Jose Serrano’s office
788 Southern Boulevard
The Point CDC
940 Garrison Avenue
On August 16, Mothers on the Move will offer a free bus tour to anyone wishing to check out the source of the stench. Call Thomas Assefa at 718-842-2224, ext. 17 for further information.