General

Colton sues city on waste transfer station

June 8, 2012 Denise Romano

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Assemblymember Bill Colton has filed a lawsuit to block the citys plan to build and operate a waste transfer station at the site of the former Southwest Brooklyn Incinerator, located at Shore Parkway and Bay 41^st Street in Bensonhurst.

The lawsuit comes of the heels of a decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to move forward with the citys plan to construct the waste transfer station.

This is the second time Colton has sued the city over this facility. He did so as a pro-bono lawyer in the early 1990s and won.

People near the former incinerator have suffered enough at the hands of the citys reckless waste management. Residents near the former incinerator have reported increased cases of cancer, asthma, and other serious chronic ailments. They woke up each morning to find ash from incineration on their windows, Colton said. As we are still reeling from the aftermath of 30 years of illegal incineration, we cannot allow another dangerous plan to move forward and wreak further havoc on Southwest Brooklyns residents and environment.

According to the city, the water in Gravesend Bay near the proposed site is too shallow for barges carrying waste to enter and leave. That means the bottom of the bay will have to be repeatedly dredged, possibly stirring up toxins that the incinerator emitted.

Colton said he was alarmed by a study of the surface of the bay that he funded. Scientists used the term black mayonnaise to refer to what they saw in the samples.

There were unsafe levels of mercury and other harmful toxins found at the bottom of Gravesend Bay and they will be spread throughout the coast as a result of dredging, Colton said. The samples were taken by just scratching the surface and not by digging deep below the surface where the dredging will reach. This leads others and me to wonder: What other dangers lie further below Gravesend Bay?

Colton also is afraid that the dredging will stir up explosives that sit at the bottom of Gravesend Bay, left over from a capsized barge from a World War II aircraft carrier. Their study made no mention of increased levels of mercury, munitions, or a capsized weapons-filled barge, explained Colton. The city is intent on fast-tracking their waste project as quickly as possible, while ignoring the glaring warning signs along the way.

The dredging concern was dismissed by Kathy Dawkins, a spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation, who said, The dredging issue was discussed during the DEC permit hearings, where it was deemed not to be a danger which would prevent the department from obtaining a permit.

Nonetheless, Colton is not alone in his fight. Community action groups such as Wake up and Smell the Garbage, Natural Resources Protective Association, and the No Spray Coalition also oppose the construction of the incinerator.

Community activist and State Senate candidate Andrew Gounardes, also backs Coltons decision. He and concerned residents have been fighting for years to protect the bay and surrounding areas from the damage that another trash facility could cause to our environment, our health, and our quality of life, Gounardes said. Instead of standing up for cleaner air and water for our community, many area politicians ignore the issue. Unfortunately for their constituents, pollution doesn’t recognize political boundaries.