By Howard Koplowitz
“In what can only be described as an act of colossal stupidity, the New York City Department of Sanitation is seeking to place an 11-story marine transfer station fewer than 2,000 feet from LaGuardia Airport's eastern runway,” Ackerman wrote in a Jan. 12 letter to the governor.The congressman could not be reached for further comment.The city proposed to build the tower, which it called a marine transfer station, back in 2004 and said it would act as a station where garbage is placed in sealed containers and barged out of New York. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the move would save money and alleviate pollution caused by garbage trucks.The state Department of Environmental Conservation would have to approve permits for the tower in order for it to be constructed, according to Ackerman. He asked that Spitzer either change the project's location or deny permission to construct it.In a January 2005 document provided by Ackerman's office, the Federal Aviation Administration's eastern regional office, based in Jamaica, told the state Department of Sanitation that the proposed 110-foot structure “would exceed obstruction standards and/or would have an adverse physical or electromagnetical interference effect upon navigable airspace or air navigation facilities. … it is hereby determined that the structure is presumed to be a hazard to air navigation.”But in September 2006, the FAA changed its tune, saying the tower “would have no substantial adverse effect on the safe and efficient utilization of the navigable airspace or on the operation of air navigation facilities. …it is hereby determined that the structure would not be a hazard to air navigation…,” according to another document provided by the congressman's office.State Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) said she is a strong opponent of the project because of environmental concerns and noted that her office was not provided with the FAA documents.”These things slip through in the dead of the night,” she said.”I have opposed this from the very beginning. It will be an environmental nightmare. To me, it just makes no sense…” she said. “How can we on the one hand encourage development” at nearby Willets Point and also subject residents to environmental harms? the senator said.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
