Dive summary:
- Almost 200,000 cubic yards of debris from fallen trees after Hurricane Sandy are expected to be dropped off at temporary landfills; to handle all of this extra waste, the city said they plan to reuse as much as possible then burn the remaining.
- Possible reuse opportunities include: fuel, mulch or landfill covering, what could not be used would most likely be burned at Floyd Bennett Field.
- The Environmental Protection Department plans to give away as much of the usable wood as possible to local companies that can use it; 85,000 cubic yards have already been donated.
From the article:
They have to act fast: After Tropical Storm Irene razed thousands of street trees and branches last year, the heaps of tree debris collected from that storm heated up as they decomposed and caught fire, said Chris Gilbride, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department.
The controlled burning process involves an air curtain burner, the size of a shipping container, that creates a curtain of air over the debris to keep embers and ash inside. A similar burner is incinerating hurricane debris in Brookhaven on Long Island. The city said that burning trees with an air curtain burner produced a minimal level of dangerous pollutants, and that the pilot burn would undergo constant monitoring. The Environmental Protection Agency will test air quality through eight monitoring stations within the park, while the state Environmental Conservation Department would test air in areas surrounding the park including the Rockaways, and Gerritsen Beach and Mill Basin in Brooklyn. ...
