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Colton continues to push back against proposed waste transfer station

November 7, 2014 Meaghan McGoldrick

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The fight against the waste transfer station planned for Gravesend Bay continues.

On Wednesday, October 22, Assemblymember William Colton, filed a 70-page appeal in hope of overturning Justice Burt Bunyan’s decision on a lawsuit filed in 2012 by the local pol in hopes of halting the facility which he and fellow advocates say will severely hinder South Brooklyn’s quality of life.

In May of this year, Bunyan ruled that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner’s decision to build and operate the Southwest Brooklyn Waste Transfer Station was fully supported by the administrative record, upholding the issuance of the permit granted to DEC to begin construction on the station. However, in the same breath, he also decided that the commissioner’s decision, in terms of procedure, was irrational.

“We believe the judge’s split decision, as written, is inconsistent with its own findings. Judge Bunyan found the commissioner’s decision to be rational in substance, but irrational in procedure. How can a decision be rational if the procedure used to make that decision is irrational? Judge Bunyan’s ruling is clearly contradictory,” said Colton, hopeful that, while Bunyan has given the garbage site the green light, the community itself will be able to stop the station from opening.

In the same decision, Bunyan ordered that, moving forward through construction, the permit must be modified because the commissioner severely restricted public access to information.

“The second part of the judge’s decision is extremely significant,” stressed Colton. “Because of the [New York City] Department of Sanitation’s (DOS) recklessness in past projects, and the withholding of important information by DEC, which the public was denied access to, Judge Bunyan has changed the conditions of the permit, and has ordered both agencies to ensure nearly full transparency with all future decisions, which they have failed to do in the past.”

Unnerved, Colton said that – with the help of fellow pols and the community – he will keep fighting the proposed site that he says poses not only a traffic threat but also a threat as professional divers have confirmed that large numbers of munitions, which can explode upon impact, lie at the bottom of the bay, which must be dredged. There are also concerns about toxins that could be dredged up.

“There is no question that this proposal to build a garbage station will have a detrimental impact on the health and safety of residents across southern Brooklyn,” said Councilmember Mark Treyger. “Our communities have already faced decades of environmental injustice and inequity due to an illegal incinerator, and this plan will only exacerbate health issues that resulted over past decades.

“As the judge noted in his decision, the public has valid reasons to be very wary of this plan and the lack of transparency on behalf of city agencies, including the fact that city studies did not mention the presence of World War II munitions in the same bay they plan to dredge,” he went on. “We must continue to come together as a community to bring to light the dangerous consequences this project will have on generations of residents.”

An answering brief must be filed by DOS and DEC within 30 days; Colton plans again to reply. The court will then schedule oral arguments before an appellate panel.