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Don't Dump on the Bronx
It gives me great pleasure to know that in our community there are strong advocates for the environment, for waste handling equity and a fair city policy that will not disporportionately impact poor and people of color communities like the Bronx District I look forward to representing.
Due to inadequate or ineffective leadership from previous Council Members and their staff members, our South Bronx waterfront has borne the brunt of previous city wide policies that unfairly concentrated waste transfer operations in one or a few locations.
For example, the Waste Management facility in the Port Morris neighborhood was allowed to expand its operations in 2004 without a full environmental impact statement. As your Coouncil Member you can be sure that I would have worked diligently to ensure that the health and environmental quality of our community would be foremost in any land use decisions that would bring more garbage to our area.
As our Council Member, I will implement a Community Council on the Environment to organize our residents, share information and empower local leadership on issues like Solid Waste Management so that I can be a better informed and more efffective Council Member, for all of us.
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Overview of the Solid Waste Situation
According to the League of Conservation Voters, each day, New York City generates nearly 50,000 tons of waste and recyclables. With the closing of the Fresh Kills Landfill in 2001, the City developed a disposal system mostly dependent on land-based waste transfer stations and diesel trucks to cart the waste out of state. This system solved the City’s short term needs, but placed a tremendous burden on the low-income communities which host these facilities and the neighborhoods adjacent to the truck routes, especially in our South Bronx District.
The City continues to use this system at a cost of roughly $1 billion per year. This is obviously an infeasibile systme, so Mayor Bloomberg announced a Draft Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan (DSWMP) on October 7th, 2004.
This plan oproposes to overhaul the City’s disposal of trash and hopefully reduce the burden on low-income communities. The plan calls for retrofitting four existing Marine Transfer Stations (MTS’s) and using four to six private truck to rail transfer stations to handle both commercial and residential waste. Additionally, the DSWMP calls for improving conditions in and around MTS’s, requiring air and odor controls for equipment at each facility and tightening regulations at the remaining land-based transfer stations. Like the Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods (OWN) I strongly support the proposals to achieve a more equitable distribution of the waste handling infrastructure in the City and support the re-openeing of the Upper East Side MTS as a good step towards relieving my Bronx community from a disproprtioante and unfair burden of being responsible for Manhattan's waste. |
We Can Have Cleaner Trucks and Cleaner Air
Enact a rapid switch to Bio Diesel Fuel for cleaner air and reduced emission s and asthma, as has been done in Tacoma city. I will work with the community affairs offices of the large corporate waste handlers in my community and identify other partners to pilot project clean fuel fleets in my asthma afflicted community.
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Recycling, Green Jobs
The Executive Summary mentions that,"New jobs and economic development along the Brooklyn waterfront"
Nothing comparable is noted for the Bronx waterfront.
I will work to make this more equitable and be a champion for my community through exploring initiatives like the Bronx Recycling Facility.
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Greenways and Community Benefits
Further fulfill obligations to community for conflicting land uses by building bridge to Randall’s Island, reducing negative impacts of garbage handling, and further complting the approved Greenway.
Prioritize the creation of numerous waterfront access points and parks in Community Board #1, complementing the recent Proposed Zoning Changes for Port Morris initiated by the NYC Department of Planning which recommends two immediate opportunities
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Increase Composting, Reduce Sewer Outflows
I urge enhanced and expanded Composting, and discourage the allowance of any increase in bio food solids into our sewer systems |
Support the campaign to elect Arline Parks!
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We can do better, and we will do better!
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