January 26, 2008: Vol. 31, No. 4

Another big gun has come out against a city plan to build a garbage-transfer station along Gravesend Bay — and says the plan could literally blow up in the city's face.

One week after Assemblyman William Colton (D–Gravesend) dropped a bombshell claim that there may be live anti-aircraft shells at the bottom of the bay, Rep. Vito Fossella (R–Bay Ridge) has joined Colton’s crusade, sending a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to demand an investigation.

“The possibility that live explosives could be lying on the bay’s floor raises concerns for the safety of Gravesend residents,” Fossella said. “If ammunition still exists, it could be disturbed.”

Both Fossella and Colton are concerned that a city plan to dredge part of the bay — which is necessary to accommodate large, trash-hauling boats docking at the waste-transfer station — could disturb what they believe are thousands of unexploded shells that sank in Gravesend Bay on March 6, 1954.

Press accounts of the era reported that most of the lost shells were recovered, but Colton believes hundreds are unaccounted for. He said the city overlooked the shells in its environmental assessment of the site, which on Shore Parkway at the foot of 26th Avenue.

The city told The Brooklyn Paper that it disagrees, but Fossella said there’s a simple solution.

“Modern technology would allow for a comprehensive inspection to ease the concern of Gravesend residents,” Fossella wrote to Gates.

The Bensonhurst waste-transfer station is a central part of Mayor Bloomberg’s solid-waste disposal plan. It was approved by the City Council last year — the culmination of more than a decade of efforts to deal with the city’s garbage problem in a equitable and environmentally friendy way.

State approval for the sites of the waste-transfer stations is still required. State officials had their final hearing on the subject last week, when they heard Colton’s bombshell charge, but have not issued a ruling yet.

At press time, Gates had not yet responded to the letter.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper