Locals were finally able to unplug their noses this weekend after a Greenpoint asphalt recycling center famous for spewing noxious fumes through the trendy nabes closed off its stinky ports.
Green Asphalt was forced to shut down this week after it was unable to raise its smokestacks by a state-mandated deadline. And although the closure is likely temporary, locals in north Brooklyn and across the water in Queens are breathing a sigh of relief — for now.
Green Asphalt shut down operations Thursday after failing to raise its smokestacks by a state-mandated deadline. Gabriella Bass
“You notice the air — you notice the difference,” said Tom Mituzas, a member of the Blissville Civic Organization and longtime neighborhood resident.
“What we didn’t experience today is any kind of tearing of the eyes, cough in the back of the throat.”
Green Asphalt had been facing a mandate to double the size of its smokestacks to 90 feet as part of an agreement made with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The company announced last week that it would be suspending its service “as part of our efforts to be a responsible neighbor.”
Residents complain that the plant pollutes the air with stinky smog filled with toxins. Brigitte Stelzer
“That deadline was put in place to raise our stack which will help mitigate any unwanted odors in the community. Due to forces beyond our control that deadline will not be met, and we feel it is only prudent to temporarily shut down until it is complete,” a spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
Air pollution in the enclave plummeted within hours of the shutdown, dropping from a concerning air quality score of 120 — which warns those with health risks to stay inside — at 2:30 a.m. Thursday to an incredible “satisfactory” score of 13 by noon, a pollution monitor managed by the Blissville Civic Association shows.
The neighborhood has largely remained in the green since, though with a few spikes reaching “acceptable” territory.
Green Asphalt could not say why it was not able to meet the deadline despite going into the agreement with the DEC six months prior.
The air pollution plummeted in Blissville after the Green Asphalt shutdown. Purple Air
The schedule of compliance issued in June indicated that the increased height would help disperse the stinky air so that it wouldn’t continue fumigating its neighbors with what came to be known as the “Greenpoint Stink.”
Even though Green Asphalt voluntarily suspended its operations, it could still face a $99,500 penalty for not reaching the deadline.
That’s on top of the $125,000 it already owes the state for failing to provide air quality monitoring data over the past few years.
As part of the agreement, Green Asphalt was required to obtain permission from the city Department of Buildings to raise its smokestack — but the agency told The Post no such documents were ever filed.
Green Asphalt can only reopen after it raises the smokestacks to 90 feet. Brigitte Stelzer
With just a few days of fresh air, the residents are celebrating the small win, but remain skeptical that the asphalt company will somehow still be able to get back up and running without raising the stacks.
“I would like to believe what they say, but it’s the story ‘The boy who cried wolf,’” Mituzas said.
Fellow Blissville neighbor Kim Dossin, 63, was excited that the air felt less “dank” since Thursday, but is “pessimistic” that the fresh air is there to stay.
“I feel like they’re playing games as far as I’m concerned. They’ve just built up a lot of distrust and lack of integrity with me, and I think with the community at large,” Dossin said.
“There’s no reason why they couldn’t have built those towers. I am doubtful they’re going to build those towers by the time they reopen. And I don’t even know what those towers, honestly, are really set to accomplish, other than dispersing the pollution and the toxins and to a further realm of wherever they might land.”
Dossin, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years, said her asthma took a turn for the worse when Green Asphalt opened a decade ago.
She lives with an air purifier that has greatly increased her oxygen levels, but says the toxins still find a way to disrupt her way of life.
“It’s still coming through the cracks of my window. I’m an extreme case, but nobody should have to be compelled to stay inside of their apartment, which many people do in this neighborhood, because if they go outside, they’re afraid of what’s lurking in the air that they smell, and they can physically see. That’s pretty substantial,” Dossin said.
Green Asphalt will reopen only when it raises its stack height and completes the mandated emissions testing so that the DEC can better monitor the fumes plaguing the community.
The company could not tell The Post when it expects to reopen, but City Council member Lincoln Restler announced it could be at least one month.