Talk Bronx New York

A general view of the Hunts Point Riverside Park is seen at the 2009 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize special outdoor tribute on September 3, 2009 in New York City

Residents around the Hunts Point neighborhood in the Bronx can literally breathe a sign of relief.

A sewage treatment plant located in the neighborhood didn’t have its contract renewed with the City on Friday. The City canceled the $34 million per year contract in order to save money, while it finds ways to close an approximately $5 billion budget gap.

The New York Organic Fertilizer Company (NYOFCo) has received a bad reputation for producing unpleasant odors in the neighborhood for many years. Raw sewage was taken to the plant to be converted into fertilizer pellets from 14 sewage plants across the city.

U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), who represents parts of the Bronx, said the City’s decision was a victory for the residents.

“NYOFCo has polluted our community’s air for 16 years, and today is the beginning of the end,” said Serrano in a statement. “It is an end to the burning eyes, the coughs, the missed school days, even the asthma attacks, all conditions triggered by NYOFCo acrid odors.”

The congressman added that the plant was the cause for complaints about the smell, as well as a public safety concern for the past 10 years. He has been rallying for the plant’s closure. According to Serrano, the plant not only produced an unpleasant odor but also polluted the area.

“The South Bronx is no longer the City’s destination for sewage sludge and it never will be again,” said Serrano. “That is the true victory for our borough.”

Local residents have sued the plant during the past several years, saying the odors are so foul that they have to stay indoors. Some residents have also said that the smell has caused them to have health problems.

In July 2008, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on behalf of Mothers on the Move and ten South Bronx residents sued the plant to get the company to use technologies that would eliminate the smell. At the time, the NRDC had said that asthma rates in the neighborhood were among the highest in the nation.

Last year, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a nuisance lawsuit against the plant on similar odor-related issues.

The company’s parent, Synagro, said that they are still negotiating the contract with the City. According to Synagro, they want to keep operating the plant and are working on making the plant emit fewer odors.

Other than saving residents from foul smells, the City hopes to save around $18 million per year by shipping the waste to a landfill instead of the treatment plant.
SOURCE

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