The Cooper Tank facility, one of 19 waste transfer stations near Newtown Creek, is part of the trash exporting industry that thrives in this area along with many other dirty industries like petroleum storage, cement plants, and sewage treatment (or lack there of). – Photos by Diego Cupolo
Out of a natural curiosity for the unnatural, I attended a Newtown Creek Alliance meeting last month to learn more about the plagued waterway that snakes through Greenpoint, East Williamsburg and Bushwick at jagged 90 degree angles. While there, I was introduced to Michael Heimbinder, founder of HabitatMap.org, an online collaborative mapping tool that visually organizes data about local environmental and health hazards, making them easier to analyze.
A devoted cyclist and informed environmentalist, Heimbinder offered to give me a bike tour of the toxic facilities surrounding Newtown Creek while explaining the threats they pose to local residents and our environment … how could I refuse?
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We met at María Hernández Park on a windy afternoon last week and I was surprised to find our first stop would be a Superfund site less than a block away from the screaming kids in the Disney playground. From there, the tour went straight into the rusty heart of the industrial area surrounding Newtown Creek where I witnessed some of the dirtiest of dirty industries operating in open air, with on-site guards to keep out prying eyes.
“This is the hub,” Heimbinder said while standing on the Scott Avenue bridge over train tracks. “Here we have the densest concentration of solid waste facilities in the city. Within a quarter mile of the creek there are nineteen waste transfer stations handling about forty percent of the city’s trash.”
Yes, that smell isn’t a figment of your imagination, people that live near the creek are surrounded by not only by trash, but petroleum storage facilities, cement plants, and raw sewage that spills into the waterways every time it rains. The informative ride through Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint opened my eyes to the alarming mix of contaminates in our soil, water, and air.
“Newtown Creek is the largest manufacturing area in New York City, and at one point this was the largest manufacturing city in the world — so there’s going to be a considerable amount of contamination around the creek,” Heimbinder said. “Obviously there are fewer toxic releases than before, but today we’re dealing with a lot of ‘legacy’ pollution.”
The good news is that Newtown Creek may soon be classified as a Superfund site, a designation that would bring in federal aid to clean up the waterway, and Heimbinder wants to be a part of the remediation effort. Since launching HabitatMap.org in 2008, he has been developing an online resource where anyone can share information about their neighborhood, specific facilities, power plants, and just about anything related to the environment.
Heimbinder said he eventually wants to expand the site into a place where visitors can see exactly where their electricity is coming from and track their garbage to its final destination. For the time being, he is working with the Newtown Creek Alliance and making his mapping tools more accessible to the public, hoping that one day people will use HabitatMap.org to create individualized maps and share valuable environmental research with ease.
“Maps can communicate information that’s hard to convey in words,” he said. “Habitat Map makes data have a visual impact and can be a powerful advocacy tool for environmental groups.”
chillinoncentral October 12th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Diego, you should know better than riding a bike (breathing profusely) on a windy day (such as your tour day) at these particular locations.
“the sewer outfall discharges about 586 millions gallons of raw sewage into Newtown Creek every year.” – WOW! That’s 1.6 million gallons of feces or urine dumped into the Newton Creek waterways per day! ewww!
Professional Alternative October 12th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
That is nasty. NASTY.
Diego October 12th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Chillin – some people work in these areas all day. I wonder how severely it effects their life expectancy …
Aaron Short October 12th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Dude, nice piece. I linked it up. So, um… you got a new bike?
BrooklynJTrain October 12th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Excellent Article and Pics Diego…
Although the guy slumped over was most likely high on heroin. =0/
NewtownSurfer October 12th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I’ve worked in a building right on the creek. Once we walked in to find inches of water in the building- which was directly from the wretched source. My ingenious friend stepped in it barefoot.
Two things;
1) At least they pulled most of the cars out!
2) Most of the workers I know there fret more about the Living Bread deli than they do about the polluting facilitites…
Matt October 13th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
the living bread! always wondered about that place. So, what’s fret worthy about that place?
Dresden October 16th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Okay geniuses, we have indoor plumbing. When it rains a lot (and I mean a lot) as it does about twice a year, the sewers flood into the water “runoff” which dumps into the waterways. This is not uncommon in ALL urban environments. What remedy would you suggest? Fact is, there isn’t one. People living in densities like this piss and shit too much material to avoid this reality.
Otherwise, yeah, industry is dirty. We aren’t meant to live next to it. But don’t you like having your modern conveniences?
Diego October 19th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Dresden – It doesn’t take much rain at all to flood the sewer system. Raw sewage enters our waterways almost every time it rains.
http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/stop-polluters/cso/
Also, while it would take a considerable amount of time and money to fix our sewers, it is possible, and there are ways to reduce the volume of storm water run-off that is at the root of this problem.