By Michèle De Meglio
Make your voice heard before the garbage trucks move in. On January 15, the Department of Environmental Conservation will host its final public hearing about the city’s plan to build a waste transfer station in southern Brooklyn. The meeting will be the last opportunity for the public to weigh in on the controversial project. Community activist Ida Sanoff urged residents to attend the hearing. “Fight this waste transfer station,” she said. “Your quality of life is going to be preserved if this is defeated.” To be located at 1824 Shore Parkway, the Southwest Brooklyn Converted Marine Transfer Station would not be a landfill but rather a facility connecting trucks carrying garbage and the barges that would transport the refuse. But critics worry about foul odors emanating from the trash collected at the site. The station will reportedly maintain a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system to eliminate any odors. Adding to the controversy about the waste transfer station is its close proximity to a park. The city is spending $40 million to renovate the dilapidated Dreier-Offerman Park, which runs from Bay 44 – 49 streets between Shore Parkway and Gravesend Bay. If all goes as outlined by the city, there will be “moms pushing carriages in front of sanitation trucks,” Sanoff said. The Parks Department has said it will “take all factors into consideration” so the park and waste transfer station can coexist peacefully. The Department of Environmental Conservation will host two public hearings on January 15. The first will be from 4-6:30 p.m., and the second will run from 7-10 p.m. They’ll be held at the Shore Parkway Jewish Center, located at 8885 26th Avenue.
