Sanchez questions Gajwani and Anderson on odor control at digestion facilities

Thank you.

And then studies have shown that sulfurous and...

Nitrogenous compounds are generated from anaerobic digestion operations, and they can be released into the air and

during dewatering and storage with all the unpleasant smells, leading to a deterioration in the quality of life in neighboring communities.

Are there any odor control solutions that have been designed into the digester at the Hunts Point facility?

And in general, has the Department of Sanitation or DEP noticed a frequency of odor complaints at any of the other currently operating digester facilities in the city?

And what agency handles those complaints, DSNY or DEP?

The world wants to know.

So I do know that the current, so the contract, the follow-on contract to the digester contract at Hunts Point does have odor control associated with it, and that is specifically for the solids handling

portion of the...

Of the wastewater treatment process, right?

So that's where the thickening process and the transferring, the storage process.

So that's, you know, that particular odor control system is being upgraded as part of the next round of construction that we're going to do.

As far as the additional facilities, I am actually unfamiliar with the odor complaints that may have been received from associated with the solids handling and the digestion.

Digestion itself is a closed, you know, kind of containerized process.

But you're right, like, you know, kind of as you move material over to dewatering, there could be odors.

All of our dewatering buildings have odor control associated with them.

But, you know, there could be excursions here or there.

And I know that people do send complaints to 311, and the DEP is very responsive to them.

they immediately go out and they, you know, kind of monitor the area to kind of look for where the concerns may be.

Sometimes it could be a door that's just left open as they're kind of moving bins in and out.

And then they tend to rectify that quickly.

But I'm not sure if there's additional details.

Yeah, so I'll add that.

Both DEP facilities and public and private transfer stations are regulated by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and they take odor complaints very seriously.

So I think that's sort of the first avenue for those sorts of things.

The Department of Sanitation also regulates private transfer stations, and we conduct inspections on a very regular basis, at least weekly, of every transfer station in New York City.

One of the things we're looking for is, you know, are the odors, the leachate, the other things that are sort of happening inside the transfer station, are they exiting the transfer station in any way?

And so, you know, that is enforcement that we do on a very regular basis.