Dive Brief:
- Residents of Bushwick in Brooklyn, NY are fighting to get a Five-star Carting waste transfer station shut down, or at least moved out of their neighborhood, where it has resided for two decades. They have complained of offensive smells and fumes, and have also said the company is violating city rules — for instance, by leaving trucks idling for hours.
- Five-Star, which is permitted to receive 560 tons of garbage daily, said they are operating in accordance with city and environmental laws.
- Neighborhood activist group Clean Up North Brooklyn produced a video relaying resident’s concerns, especially the spray to cover odors, which contains ingredients that carry health warnings, according to neighborhood activist Ben Weinstein.
Dive Insight:
The turf war has escalated among Five-Star, residents and local politicians, with the community saying they are inundated with manmade environmental hazards.
"If you live in my district, asthma rates, pollution, the destruction of the streets, pedestrians dealing with truck traffic — these are all very familiar topics of concern," said Councilman Reynoso. His district is home to 15 transfer stations of 62 throughout the city. North Brooklyn houses 40% of the city’s waste transfer stations, far exceeding the number in any other community.
David Newman, an industrial hygienist with New York Committee for Occupational Safety, agrees with residents concerned about the spray to cover odors, stating, "I’d certainly like more information on how it’s used."
Not too far away, New Yorkers are fighting a similar battle, trying to stop construction of a waste transfer station that they argue would not meet health and safety requirements for the project's permit.
Back in Bushwick, Five-Star’s spokesperson Ara Chekmayan said, "The statements that they have made are not factual; there's a lot of misinformation that's being disseminated. The Brooklyn transfer is a clean, operating licensed facility."
