Canarsiens will get one more chance to make their case against the establishment of a medical waste transfer station in the community.
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which issues the permits for such facilities, will be holding a legislative public hearing on the matter next month.
The hearing will take place at the Remsen Heights Jewish Center, 8700 Avenue K, at 7 p.m. on January 13th.
Community opposition to the facility, which has been proposed by CMW Industries for 100-02 Farragut Road, has been mounting since area residents first learned of the proposal, earlier this year. Indeed, residents flooded the DEC office with over 1,800 letters, plus petitions containing hundreds of signatures, in advance of its public comment deadline in September, in hopes of securing the public hearing, after DEC issued a statement in August that indicated that the agency had determined that the establishment of the medical waste transfer station “would not have a significant effect on the environment.”
Concern revolves around two issues — the exact composition of the medical waste that would be carried to and from, and stored at the facility, and traffic that might be substantially increased by its presence in the community. Among the questions that have been repeatedly asked — what perils would the community be exposed to should there be an accident involving one of the vans or trucks carrying the medical waste?
“The bottom line, our concern is health,” contended Mary Anne Sallustro, president of the South Canarsie Civic Association (SCCA). “If it’s not inherently dangerous, if it can go into any neighborhood, why is it being put here? We want to know, of all five boroughs, of all the neighborhoods, why Canarsie?”
As much as 15 tons of regulated medical waste could be sent to the facility each day, according to the DEC notice, which also says that the facility could handle “up to 350 gallons per day of conditionally exempt hazardous waste for consolidation by long haul transport to permitted treatment and destruction facilities.”
Among the substances that could be “collected and stored for removal” are “formalin, formaldehyde and formaldehyde solutions, xylene, alcohol, mercury and waste mercury,” the notice said.
If the plan goes through, CMW, which is a licensed regulated medical waste transporter, would utilize approximately 1,500 square feet within the existing garage area of the building as a regulated medical waste transfer station. This would be the first such facility in Brooklyn. Currently, CMW transports the medical waste it collects to a facility in the Bronx.
Under this arrangement, medical waste brought to the property in cargo vans or box trucks would be stored inside a 40-foot tractor-trailer container, which would be taken away when filled. “The on-site storage of hazardous waste is limited to less than ten days,” according to the notice issued by DEC. The facility would be open for operation, according to the DEC notice, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Gershon Klein, the owner of CMW, which currently runs an ambulette service out of the site, has repeatedly contended that the facility would pose no danger to area residents and the neighborhood at large.
At a public hearing held earlier this year as part of the DEC permitting process, he had said, “It’s not impacting Canarsie. We’re not treating waste. It’s no different than if we had a grocery store and were getting boxes. I don’t believe it’s dangerous. It may be dangerous, but not any more dangerous than Brookdale Hospital.”
DEC is also accepting written comment, which should be sent to Helene G. Goldberger, Administrative Law Judge, NYS DEC, Office of Hearings and Mediation Services, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1550. All written comment must be submitted by January 12th.
