RIGHT TO BREATHE/RIGHT TO KNOW:

INDUSTRIAL AIR POLLUTION IN GREENPOINT-WILLIAMSBURG

A special report by the Community Environmental Health Center

at Hunter College (212) 481-4355
425 E. 25th Street, Box 596
New York, NY 10010

1992

- Printed on Recycled Paper -


Ee ee

RIGHT TO BREATHE/RIGHT TO KNOW:
INDUSTRIAL AIR POLLUTION IN GREENPOINT-WILLIAMSBURG

AUTHORS: KATHERINE SCHWARZ, DEBORAH LALOR AND CAROL STEINSAPIR
RESEARCH: KATHERINE SCHWARZ

This report is published by the Community Environmental Health Center
at the Hunter College. The Center is based at the Hunter College
School of Health Sciences. Supported primarily with foundation grants,
the Center assists community organizations in low-income, African-
American and Latino neighborhoods in New York City to protect their
communities against environmental health hazards such as lead
poisoning, asbestos, air and water pollution and toxic wastes.

The Center works with community groups to develop effective organizing
strategies that will protect their neighborhoods from environmental
health problems. The Center provides technical assistance, training
and consulting services. It can help groups obtain relevant
information from public officials, scientists, health professionals and
industry, evaluate whether a suspected hazard poses a health danger,
and develop effective strategies for community education and action.

The Center’s projects include the Youth Environmental Action Project
(YEAP) which assists already established community-based youth groups
in the development of environmental health projects and the Northern
Manhattan Project which provides comprehensive assistance to community
groups in Washington Heights, East, West and Central Harlem. The
Center also has lead poisoning prevention projects in Harlem and in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, the heart of the New York City "lead
belt." The Center provides internships that help to train the

environmental health professionals of the future to work with community
organizations.

The Community Environmental Health Center is located at 425 East 25th
Street, Box 596, New York, New York 10010 and can be reached at (212)
481-4355. Nicholas Freudenberg is the Executive Director and
Marjorie Moore is the Program Director of the Community Environmental
Health Center. The Center’s former Program Director, Carol Steinsapir
is one of the authors of this report. :


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Lid
Acknowledgements ‘
Preface a
Executive Summary
Section I - Introduction
int-Williamsburg :
ion II, Greenpoint-Wi
oe age Land Use and Zoning 1
B. The People
Cc. Local Industry .
; ion: s of Information
i ic Air Pollution: Source a
ey ia gaat aerate Source Management a} (ge
% ph Toxic Release Inventory of ‘rd aie ted Aged re
ns Preparedness and Community Right- : ie
Cc. Other Potential Information Source .
a oege eagles a
Section IV, Air Pollution in Greenpoint Williamsburg i
ec i r Po i6
Emissions |
- iajuetad concrete meen carpe Data : “
: ces of Air Po
c. Other Sour -

Section V, Health Hazards from Air Pollution

Section VI Conclusion: Cleaner Air for Greenpoint-Williamsburg 30
’

ir Pollution Problem 3 ; 0
a So dtodehas tions for Reducing Air Pollution

37
Appendix A, US-EPA Form R ig
Appendix B, Chemical Profiles i
Appendix C, Company Profiles :
Appendix D, Sources of Data :

Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Both
were extremely patient in their answering of questions and helpful in
providing the data needed to put this report together.

Professors Jack Caravanos and Nicholas Freudenberg at the Hunter
College School of Health Sciences made time twice from extre

Helen Eversley, as always, provided efficient office support in the
typing, revising anda production of the manuscript.

We would also like to acknowledge an excellent manual,
Citizen’s Toxic Waste Audit Manual by Ben Gordon of Gr

communities also served as models: Air Toxics in New York State: A
Citizen’s Guide to the Right-To-Know Law and Air Toxic Data by the
American Lung Association of New York State and the New York
Environmental Institute, Inc.; i

ergen County: An Invento of
Toxic Releases in Berge Co by the New Jersey Public Interest
Research Group; and To ic Ai

xic Air Pollution in Maryland: An Analysis of
Toxic Release Reports from Manufacturing industries for 1987 Submitted
to the Maryland Toxics Information Center under the Emergency Planning

an = i -To-Kno ° 986 by the Natural Resources
Defense Council, the Sierra Club Potomoc Chapter, the Maryland Waste
Coalition, and the American Lung Association of Maryland.

The Center wants to express its appreciation for

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Norman Found
City of New York.

general support to the
ation and Fund for the

Finally, we want to express our con
Greenpoint-Williamsburg in their un

hazards. We are confident that they will continue to be an inspiration

to us and other neighborhoods as well.



PREFACE
by

Jose Morales, Adviser, Toxic Avengers at El Puente in Williamsburg

Power to the people!! I heard this phrase when I was a young person:

its’s a phrase that has particular significance in today’s world. The

people of the Commonwealth of Independent States (formerly the Soviet
Chile and Europe amongst others, have recently

Union), Southern Africa,
itions in which they live and the

expressed their outrage at the conditio
attempts to take from them their right to determine their way of life.
geously demanded the right to their self-

These peoples have then coura'

determination and have acted. I say the people of Greenpoint-
Williamsburg are moved by the same spirit of outrage and self-
determination in regards to the environment in which they live.

environmental self-determination resonates with the
the grassroots in this country. There isa
of environmentalism--a move

A commitment to
political atmosphere at
_ growing shift in the political atmosphere
away from solely conservation and preservation to include and emphasize
battling environmental injustice, in otherwords, human centered
environmental concerns. Beginning with the Love Canal incident, what
has been called the grassroots anti-toxics/environmental justice
movement has grown dramatically. There are a variety of estimates that
there are thousands of grassroots groups confronting environmental
issues in their neighborhoods. The communities of
williamsburg/Greenpoint are not different; each has its own list of
environmentally conscious groups growing everyday--from the Toxic
Avengers of El Puente to RAW, WABBA, GASP and Concerned citizens

Greenpoint. The impact that these groups in Brooklyn and elsewhere
have had is a shift and expansion in the agenda of the environmental
movement in the USA, 4 more inclusive agenda that is growing to include

the concerns of many constituencies.

It is precisely groups like these that have been the focus of the

charge of the Hunter College Community Environmental Health Center.

For the last six years, the Center has provided advise and consultation

on environmental hazards to low income community groups in New york

city.

"Right to Breathe/Right to Know is an example of what our movement must

do. To gather, assess and present information that is relevant to the
it must be said that a report like

movement is essential. Furthermore,
this arises as a response to the neglect of official authorities.

Right to Breathe Right to Know shows that linkages can and must be
forged between grassroots groups and environmental professionals.

where credibility is a valuable commodity,
ce evidence to back their claims or
llea from under them. Right to
f documentation that catalogs the

In the political arena,
environmental activists must produ
they stand on a rug that may be pu

Breathe/Right to Know is the kind o

iv

issue ‘ gee

howe rete eeren ona inth reliable dat
Breathe/Right to i er and demands. In thi

scientific/technical tas also a step towards tte dace. Right to

Pee eee and cesiniear ies The movement bebe hah Nae
claims about the i information e conversa ;

: fe nec nt wi
the time, this tntaenes on human health dea eB to make credible th
pian Ghusenascenaae ft on has either not been environment. Most of

is. hence inaccessi ie Splodabair.s or it has not
orated to present ae bab teach eis ae ened

people an
Recuagt ous ware ear ppteee fe
most valuable of e informati i
efforts for th ion in an
e€ movement.

a from which the people can

The Hunter Coll
ege Communi ;
reports, provide nity Environmental
ae oe tere eer Ss tools for a communi Health Center, t :
vir unity’s self det ter, through its
© ination, a se
ed

ss ;
an lead community residents to

e phase i

s cece. ep to NIABY, from toe es noe
loaalWaree thinking ana calf Laon? Basing
ne having a becivan a! and self interest to a ©

that we pass th

rough t.
oe to Not In yas,
bike a forced, narrow
roader sense of everyo

Rather, we look at

not my friend’ e€ our problems dumped

Ss and fo ‘ i

ae r that matter not Sewanee pea emi
way of thinking may eventuall

e to be in anyb

ing hazardous m

For what reas
i on
profits? At whose e S are the

y lead us to as

ie :

2 lg backyard er ieee et

: fore iea pollution BE

Lidia xpense are th ir

ciety pay the price of Hadith care o a Shae Ge ree eee
an r

made? With this t y
answers, we may Ne at itt thinking, questions Eee up for the messes
communities and beyond ay from the slow but su hopefully their
the long term health of towards real solution re destruction of our
of our bodies, ponmunttien ete problems and
: Y and planet.

wh:

ee is eet
. n i

Is it the right oe first

Jose Morales i
S 1S an advi
at El Puente which is ace

o the Toxic Av
See is
Williamsburg Brooklyn (Chi

stic multi-service ote ae group is based

h center in



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

y available data, the Community Environmental Health Center
ge (CEHC) has prepared the first estimate of the aggregate
tion load from industrial sources in the Brooklyn
Greenpoint and Williamsburg. CEHC’s projections indicate

an estimated 2.9 million pounds of toxic chemicals were
s in the area. This is equivalent to

f£ toxic chemicals per square mile per

Using publicl
at Hunter Colle
toxic air pollu
communities of
that, in 1987,
emitted into the air by 201 companie
an emission rate of 580,000 pounds 0
year.
ns of the 326 chemicals and chemical
to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program
Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know
Act. Moreover, it does not include emissions from the Greenpoint
Incinerator, the Newtown Creek Sewage Treatment Plant or from the heavy
motor vehicle traffic that crosses the neighborhood on the Brooklyn-

Queens Expressway as well as local streets.
veloped from two sources of

llution estimate was de

air emissions data: the TRI program itself and the New York State Air

Pollution Source Management System (APSMS). The companies regulated by

the TRI program must annually report their total emissions into the
those chemicals have

environment of a selected group of toxic chemicals;
been determined by i mental Protection Agency to

be hazardous to the environment or to cause acute or chronic health
effects. The APSMS contains a broader range of emission data for a
companies that have state or city air emissions permits.

Analysis of the data from both. sources leads to the following
conclusions:

This estimate is limited to emissio

categories reportable
established by the federal

The aggregate air po

in Greenpoint-Williamsburg
s into the air in 1987. In
ies reported air

° TRI reports reveal that eleven companies
emitted 220,494 pounds of toxic chemical
1988, a slightly different group of eleven compan
emissions of 252,853 pounds of toxic chemicals.

data indicate that in both years
ent of the emissions were deliberate releases from
The other eighty-seven percent were fugitive
emissions which are discharges resulting from leaky valves, faulty
equipment, evaporation from spills or during normal production
processes. Since these discharges typically occur close to the
ground, it is estimated that they can have a health impact ten to
forty times greater than stack emissions. (US - EPA, NATICH

newsletter)

° Analysis of the 1987 and 1988 TRI

only thirteen perc
facility stacks.

the air in Greenpoint-Williamsburg, as reported
were sixty times greater per square mile than
States as a whole.

° Toxic emissions into
to the TRI program,
the average for the United

vi

AL,
ait
He
ni

Hi,

|

I,

° pi Pipe een the New York State A
f companies, in j
Great tothe arias , in just two of the zi i
aetna Counaa Geer reported annual aiaa Sone fone Gee
oxic chemicals. (This figure inetade pei hie
es only those

chemicals reporta
ble to th
other e TRI pro ° ricbhis
pollutants were not Gsiiaed ER Ens Shaye ete data for
sis).

PSMS reveal that an additional

° Extrapolating the eighty-

the TRI data and applying it t percent fugitive emissions rate fro
m

i it
an estimated total emissio to the APSMS stack emissions results in

chemica ns of some 2. illi
1s from the 190 companies Ligtea da thee Of eae

° Adding the 19 i
87 TRI emissions of 220,494 pounds to the ti
estimated

APSMS emissions
Of) 2:7: mi374
of some 2.9 milli illion pounds results i

_2. ion * s in an i
Greenpoint-Williamsburg. in 1987 alone for estimated total

The 2. i i

in tne cui eer oes understates th

th ‘ : s it does ;

Grasriboleeineieine two zip code Bee aries Kam

failed t Williamsburg. Second, it i ich ar

preeenann report their toxic air emissi possib
G . Finally, this analysis c ong, tO

e@ actual toxic ai issi
APSMS emission data tone
Booty partially located in
eae some companies have
atin tg 1 er the APSMS or the TRI
only industrial sources for

Creek Sewage Treatment plant
‘

th ; 4 a
e heavy vehicular traffic ar S well as the background pollution from

ound and through the area

When the TRI dat.
a alone is
coun Pid compared to TRI dat
wit tenants See alae oad it becomes Aiea erat cracseciee Sa
piace itoge Yr greater polluti aioe
fabeie State Cae te load in Phas Oreck itn cn ane Se Ri
Ae ee : an the average for t ited: beaves tae
e time, the population density s Meo eihee Ene rea
es e

national avera
; ge. Soala
a relati ; rge number
vely high concentration of abe os). grb ae tie a exposed to

ution.

POPULATION AND T
OXICS PER SsQU:;
(1987 Toxic Release Tavaniae ee Betas

Area

United States Pop. /Sq.Mile

Lbs. Toxics/Sq.Mile

New Yor 1
New tee Bee 2 Ap ; 204
; 3
Kings County ai ays 4,182
9/29
Grnpnt./Wllmsbrg. 28,400 am
‘
44,099

eles! have begun to address the
pfu snd environmental regulator
on large industrial facili

cf Ae Labeda industrial air
_age S have tended to f i
ties ‘that individually suit hindiene ce

vii



CES es OR | aE a |. vali Ae ie

thousands or even millions of pounds of pollutants each year. By
contrast, this report spotlights an urban community where a large number
of relatively small pollution sources are concentrated in a small,
densely populated area.

Evaluating the potential impact of industrial air pollution on the health
of Greenpoint-Williamsburg residents would be a complex process far
beyond the scope of this study. Projecting the risk of population health
effects requires identifying the number of people potentially exposed as
well as estimating the intensity and duration of exposure. Making such
an exposure estimate requires consideration of a variety of factors. For
example, weather, topography (in an urban setting this includes the
height of buildings), stack height and a host of other variables can
affect the speed with which pollutants are dispersed. The degree of
dispersal will, in turn, affect the potential exposure of community
residents and workers to toxins in the air. The health risk to an
individual will reflect the amount and potency of toxins actually
absorbed into the body but also will be influenced by factors such as
health status and age, which can produce a range of individual
vulnerability to health effects from a particular dose of toxic
chemicals.

While we cannot estimate in this study the number of cases of cancer,
reproductive health damage or other illnesses that may occur as a result
of exposure to air pollution in Greenpoint-Williamsburg, there is no
question that the toxic chemicals emitted into the community’s air can be
dangerous to human health. In 1987, sixty-one percent of the TRI
emissions in the study area were carcinogens or reproductive toxins or
poth. In 1988 this figure rose to seventy-eight percent of the total.

It is important to take steps to minimize exposure to these dangerous

chemicals.

A previous report prepared by the Community Environmental Health Center
at Hunter College, "Hazardous Neighbors? Living Next Door to Industry in
Greenpoint-Williamsburg", addressed the question of whether it is
possible for an accidental release of hazardous chemicals to endanger the
health of the community’s workers and residents. This report focuses
instead on the less dramatic but no less serious issue of the daily

threat posed to the community’s health by the routine emissions of toxic
chemicals.

Greenpoint-Williamsburg was selected for these studies because of its
special characteristics: a large industrial base, co-existing with a
densely populated residential community. The neighborhoods of Greenpoint
and Williamsburg, which together comprise Brooklyn Community District #1,

are located in the northwest corner of the borough.

The district encompasses only five square miles, but supports a
population density of 28,000 people per square mile (1980 census) as
compared to 23,400 for the city as a whole. The area has the highest
proportion of industrial land use of any community district in the City;

twelve percent as compared to 2.2 percent for the borough and 1.9 percent

viii

dl
tl
u
"
rh
ri
a
ny
um
ut
ill

i
u
it

1

for the City. This figure is hi i
gher still for Greenpoi
fully forty percent of the land is zoned for iniueas Gee oe re

Because Greenpoint-Williamsbur i
; g was settled in the lat
aah eta et, ee New York City adopted its Ppa gern ee
, residential, commercial and industri i
close proximity This means that i re BEC ke ue
: i ont resident i
toxic chemical emissions from local Pactcriens” ere Seren rr

Cleaning up the air in Greenpoi illi
point-Williamsburg will requi i
maar and local government and by industry and omnis eA iadnee Bet
ecessary steps include: Parcyacy Go

1. Developing an ac i
ad idm curate, comprehensive picture of air pollution in

The New York City Department of i
Der Environmental Prot i
pee te ona the aae oy this report using 1989 Ria tecc tre
c a he latest APSMS data. It should su
BIE ls connie of the aoatebacioom tnaeteiee
cting in Greenpoint-Williamsb i
York State Department of Environ vation as wei
: C a mental Conservati
with ambient air quality data f i S ctation cee
: ~| i i
was established in the aity Me shchaemait 50%

2. Enforcing existing air pollution controls more aggressively

Companies lacking required i
C : 2 permits and those faili
oF ee ph iss aiseting should be punished to che futt
: rcement actions should be ici
deterrent to other violator Berns ince cect
s. The Greenpoint Inci
should not be allowed to o i rela eioaeccit
1 l perate in violation of f i
quality regulations Communit i I aiocata aa
l ‘ resident
greater funding for anterceaane Carrie i wating 6,

comply
extent

3.
Enacting new regulations to dramatically reduce fugitive emissions

phic gs oe ei ea ele emissions may represent the bulk of the
par CREME be Ccniee Se ee and may pose a
: ea an stack emission
ese ge ea ne should be developed to raquiedeunee |
at bodiakaapine und canise ree en improve maintenance
eeping, ce eir use of i i i
order to minimize their fugitive Cable an nea ta

4. Reducing air pollution by preventing it at the source.

Pol i i i
pabcrg. pe ois ah Goal ana -- accomplished by reducing the use of
Saal bing pas S in production -- can be more effective and
pea oul caoee pe tinea designed to capture toxic wastes

y Nvironment. Government can i
companies implement pollution prevention plans and can fost

ix



providing financial incentives and technical
assistance. Community residents can confront local industries
directly and push them to cut their discharges to zero within a
negotiated timetable. Area residents also can support
legislation to make pollution prevention state policy as it is

in Massachusetts.

compliance by

tools to protect communities against the

5. Developing new regulatory
pollution from multiple sources.

cumulative impact of air
ns, adoption of a community-
provided for in the New York City
Charter, and enforcement of new "fair share" rules developed by
the City Planning Commission to guide allocation of public
facilities among city neighborhoods may help to protect
Greenpoint-Williamsburg from the introduction of new air

pollution sources.

Changes in zoning regulatio
initiated land use plan as

6. Declaring a moratorium on the construction of any new sources of

environmental pollution.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
recently has begun a comprehensive environmental assessment of
Greenpoint-Williamsburg as part of a commitment to remediate
environmental problems in the area. New York City government
should support the demand by local residents for a moratorium
on construction or expansion of any facilities that might add
to existing environmental hazards until the DEP assessment is
completed. The DEP report should contain a remedial plan that
includes regulations and other measures to prevent further
environmental damage.

7. Revising the TRI program requirements to provide more useful air

pollution information.

Federal Right-To-Know regulations should be revised to require
reporting of a more extensive list of toxic chemicals by a
larger number of companies. Short term, as well as annual
emission totals, should be reported.

These recommendations focus on steps that must be taken by government and
industry to reduce air pollution in Greenpoint-Williamsburg. Those
responsible for the pollution must clean it up. But community residents
have a critical role to play in the process as well. As residents of
Greenpoint-Williamsburg already know, neither government agencies nor
local industries are likely to address the environmental problems in
Greenpoint-Williamsburg in an effective manner unless vocal and
knowledgeable residents ensure that they do so. Those residents who have
already become environmental watchdogs should continue to monitor
government and local industries. With the help of their neighbors, they
can win the fight for a safer and healthier community.

x

Hi

un!
lhe
a!
aa!
na!
ll
ll

lls
"

Di ag Tg
len Lee

Alt
fe eteeae recommendations in this re
wegeiten in Greenpoint-Williamsb

er communities as well Sane

Williamsbu :
unique. rg may be particularly

port are directed

hear ed toward cleani

tr ibe at implementation would aise
air pollution in Gruginaine

although Greenpoi

: ; point-William

Since eighty-seven percent ard tied suffer more than other communit
unities

fugiti par
gitive emissions as compared with

percent. It is criti

j 7 ritical th

a at
gencies direct more attention este Geenre and local environmental

clea i i
n air and healthier communities

xi