Gennaro Bill Slated to Clean Queens Air by Anna Gustafson - YourNabe.com > Queens

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Councilman James Gennaro (l.) speaks at a biodiesel plant in Brooklyn about his bill that is expected to reduce air pollution and create green jobs. Photo courtesy of William Alatriste

A bill sponsored by City Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) and slated to pass the Council Thursday is expected to reduce air pollution, promote the use of alternative fuels and create green jobs in the city, Gennaro and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week.

The legislation, Intro 194-A, will require that buildings burn less No. 4 heating oil — one of the dirtiest types of fuel. Additionally, it mandates that the No. 4 oil will be phased out when buildings need to replace their heating system equipment, which city officials said will help to create environmentally friendly jobs.

“New York City consumes 1 billion gallons of heating oil annually — more than any other city in the United States,” said Gennaro, chairman of the Council Environmental Protection Committee. “Our legislation will annually replace 20 million gallons of petroleum with an equal volume of renewable, sustainable and domestically produced biodiesel. We are already home to what will be the largest biodiesel processing facility in the country, as well as a growing grease collection industry, and we expect to see more and more green-collar jobs and green economic growth as a result of our legislation.”

Intro 194-A will require the amount of sulfur in some heating oil to be capped at 1,500 parts per million, reducing the current cap by half. About 9,500 city buildings burn the dirtiest grades of heating oil, Nos. 4 and 6, according to a report by the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit. The report found that buildings burning Nos. 4 and 6 heating oils release more soot pollution than all cars and trucks on the city’s streets combined.

The pollution created by this heating oil contains heavy metals and other pollutants that damage lungs and hearts, contribute to asthma and decrease life expectancy, city officials noted.

“We all know the most cost-effective way to remove pollutants from any fuel is to never burn them in the first place,” Bloomberg said. “But the reality is that New Yorkers burn more than 1 billion gallons of heating oil each year. By changing the type of oil we use, we will reduce pollutants and spend less money on maintaining and operating our heating systems while simultaneously reducing our dependence on overseas sources of energy.”

Environmental advocates also cheered the bill.

“It’s a great day for the health of all New Yorkers, but especially for children, senior citizens and people with respiratory illnesses who are particularly vulnerable to soot pollution,” said Andy Darrell, New York regional director and deputy director of the Environmental Defense Fund’s national energy program.

The Stink Train by Robert Pozarycki - www.timesnewsweekly.com - Times Newsweekly

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Civic Coalition Calls For End To Rail Noise, Odors

More than 100 residents and civic activists took part in a march through Glendale and Ridgewood last Saturday, Apr. 24, organized by Civics United for Railroad and Environmental Solutions (CURES) in an effort to call attention to quality-of-life problems caused by local freight rail traffic. The march started at the corner of 69th Street and Otto Road and proceeded to Mafera Park in Ridgewood, where a press conference was held regarding legislation aimed at forcing rail companies to seal container cars filled with rotting trash.

Fed up with loud noise and noxious fumes emanated by local freight rail traffic, scores of residents took to the streets of Ridgewood and Glendale last Saturday morning, Apr. 24, calling for train reforms which they hope will improve their quality of life.

More than 100 residents, civic leaders and elected officials turned out for the event organized by Civics United for Railroad and Environmental Solutions (CURES) to support efforts to reform freight operations along rail lines running through both neighborhoods as well as Maspeth and Middle Village.

Starting with a march from the intersection of 69th Street and Otto Road in Glendale to Mafera Park in Ridgewood and ending with a press conference and cleanup, participants carried banners and offered chants urging local rail companies to change the way they operate in the area, including ending noisy overnight operations, sealing container cars full of rotting garbage and retrofitting diesel locomotives with fuel-efficient hybrid engines.

The CURES coalition, which is comprised of more than a dozen community groups in the Community Board 5 area, was formed late last year in response to numerous complaints that arose from residents around Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village regarding local train lines in each neighborhood.

Among the civic groups taking part in CURES which were represented at the rally include the Citizens for a Better Ridgewood, Farmers Oval Civic Association, Glendale Civic Association, Glendale Property Owners Association, Juniper Park Civic Association, Liberty Park Home Owners Association and the Maspeth West End Block Association.

Leading the charge was Glendale resident Mary Parisen, who co-chairs CURES along with her neighbor Mary Arnold. Parisen spoke of a host of problems related to the hauling of container cars full of rotting household garbage through local communities along lines operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway (NYA) and CSX.

As previously reported in this newspaper, local residents have complained over recent months about the unpleasant aroma of putrefying garbage in cars stored—sometimes for many hours—along the CSX line heading northbound from the Fresh Pond Railyard in Glendale through Middle Village. The noxious odors, neighbors living near the tracks claimed, have made it nearly impossible to leave their windows open during warm weather or stand outside without feeling nauseated.

Arnold told the Times Newsweekly the quality of life problems related to train traffic are also forcing residents to leave the community. She noted that some landlords have a difficult time renting their properties to prospective tenants since they are located close to local rail lines.

Changing the locomotives

Following last Saturday’s rally, CURES members were informed by the New York and Atlantic Railway (NYA), which operates out of the Fresh Pond Railyard in Glendale, will upgrade its fleet of 11 locomotives with equipment designed to reduce their emissions. The $1 million effort will reportedly be funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program.

“It’s an improvement,” according to a CURES statement regarding the NYA plan, which noted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) “has gone on record to say that locomotive repowering is what we need to reduce diesel emissions.” Locomotive repowering would require the current diesel engines used by each locomotive to be replaced with engine designs that are more fuel efficient.

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“The NYA announcement is a very small step in addressing the quality of life problems of people living near the railroad tracks,” added Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, which is part of the CURES coalition. “Lowering emissions on NYA locomotives by one-third is fine, but what about CSX locomotives which are the ones causing the problems in Middle Village? CSX and NYA are currently using the railroad track area in Middle Village as a rail yard and crews work on trains at 4 and 5 a.m.”

“Finding a quick solution to this unbearable air and noise pollution problem is our number one concern,” Holden concluded. “Middle Village residents finally getting a good night’s sleep would be a cause for a celebration.”

Sealing the stink train

Among those in attendance were Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, who informed residents during the press conference that he has introduced several bills in the state legislature aimed at requiring freight operators to put hard lids atop cars containing putrescible waste, which would block foul odors from spreading to nearby homes.

Joining Hevesi at the conference were several other elected officials including Assemblyman Mike Miller, State Sen. Joseph Addabbo and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley.

Hevesi touted the legislation he introduced into the State Assembly as a possible solution to the problem. In addition to a bill requiring all train companies to apply hard, impenetrable seals atop cars containing putrescible waste, he also authored a bill that would increase penalties against companies which ignore this requirement.

The assemblyman previously described the legislation at the JPCA’s Mar. 25 meeting in Middle Village. During the session, he informed residents that the proposed bills would force shipping companies to install the solid lids at waste management facilities, which are under state jurisdiction. Train yards and tracks fall under federal oversight and are exempt from state regulation under the Interstate Commerce Clause in the Constitution.

Arnold noted that the proposed legislation is “a step in the right direction,” adding that CURES would continue to work with local lawmakers and railroad operators to ensure that other reforms are implemented in the weeks and months ahead.

School Copier Waste a Focus in Pre-Earth Day Event by Christina Hernandez -- Newsday.com

My friend Kenny Luna is at it again...check out this year's Earth Day project for students..!

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Yellow caution tape blocked the entrance of a second-floor room in Robert Moses Middle School.

Inside, the North Babylon school's copy machine was suffering from a case of "tree-biting rabies." Decorated with a single eye and two arms that shoved paper into its red mouth, it spewed foam in the form of yellow balloons.

The machine and all photocopies were off-limits at the school yesterday as part of "The Great Copy Machine Epidemic."

The goal of the pre- Earth Day effort, which was designed by a North Babylon teacher and in place at 30 schools nationwide, was to help stop global warming by limiting copy machine usage.

"Schools are a place where we use tremendous amounts of photocopies," said the teacher, Kenny Luna, 32. "Simple changes make a big difference."

The seventh-grade science teacher said he hopes the initiative starts discussions that raise awareness and lead students to make changes in their daily lives. "It's not just a poster contest," he said. "It actually reduces carbon emissions."

Participating schools diagnosed their own made-up disorders, such as "treeberculosis" and "tree pox," said Luna, who dressed as a mad scientist in a curly white wig and lab coat yesterday. Students, some wearing medical scrubs, had helped decorate the machine.

Schools in Lynbrook, Levittown, Garden City, Lindenhurst, Middle Island and Northport had their own copy machine epidemics, Luna said, as well as schools in 13 states and the Caribbean island of Curacao.

Based on figures he compiled from the Environmental Defense Fund's Paper Calculator, Luna estimated that his "national day of action" saved 16 trees and 3,700 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

But if every school in the nation participated, he said, more than 38,000 trees and 9 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions would have been saved.

Beginning Tuesday, Earth Day, polls will open on Luna's Web site, greatcopyepidemic. com, to determine which school was the most creative in communicating the message that making photocopies affects global warming. The winner will receive a $125 prize to buy and plant a tree, he said.

Diagnosis: "Carbon Footprint Swollenitis"

Grace Hill Elementary, Arkansas

In 2006, Luna, with the help of The Home Depot, gave every North Babylon student an energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulb. The initiative, "Mr. Luna's Bright Idea," saved North Babylon residents about $500,000 in energy costs, he said.

Luna conceived the copy machine project last year after learning about an Oregon school's no-copy day. Luna devised the faux-illness idea hoping it would appeal to students. It did, and Luna's students are enthusiastic about how the initiative will grow in coming years.

"Everyone will see it, and they'll think it's weird, but cool," said seventh-grader Moumita Khondaker, 12. "It can be like a holiday."