Oooo, That Smell!

The Greenpoint Courier has an article on why the sewage plant has been stinking up the hood more recently. DEP's answer: a bunch of gross industrial incidents and excavation of "oil" (by which they probably mean polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons- the remnants of historic oil refining that stink to high heaven.)

We also have a theory that the cooler weather this summer created more "inversion layers" that trapped the smell the plant always gives off closer to the ground instead up letting it disperse higher in the atmosphere (like when NYC smelled like maple syrup). Don't worry- it's not northrax.

When questioned by community members at a Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee (NCMC) meeting at the Plant's 329 Greenpoint Avenue operations headquarters, DEP officials and plant operators said that the causes of the odors have been found and remediated.

"This doesn't happen often. Rarely do the [waste containers] overflow from the grit chambers. It was cleaned up on the same day," said Jerry Fragias, a DEP employee at the wastewater treatment plant, referring to a recent odor-causing event.

This past summer, odors have come from three locations at the wastewater treatment plant site: an overflow of an outdoor garbage unit, also known as a grit chamber, containing wastewater residue, the excavation of oil contaminated soil on the plant's grounds, and an eruption of a bacterial foam growing inside the plant's egg-shaped digester units. Each produces its own distinct smell, making it easy for DEP employees to trace the cause of the odor when a community resident registers a complaint with the city agency.

(with apologies for referencing Skynyrd in the title)

Photo credit: Newtown Creek Sewage Treatment Plant digesters under constrution by "_dorothy_" via flickr creative commons license