Report:
Stench emitted at Yaphank
compost facility
Originally published: June 30, 2010
9:05 PM
Updated: June 30, 2010 10:04
PM
By PATRICK
WHITTLE
A recent
Suffolk County health
department report accuses a Yaphank
compost facility of emitting foul
odors at a level almost four times
greater than the state guideline,
prompting town and county
legislators to demand the state
bring the site into compliance.
Inspectors
detected excessive odors at Long
Island Compost, located off
Horseblock Road, nearly 78 percent
of the time during a 27-day study,
states the report, which was
released this week. State guidelines
say more than 20 percent constitutes
a “nuisance.”
The report
also accuses Long Island Compost of
emitting excessive particulate
matter - tiny particles linked to
respiratory disease. County Legis.
Kate Browning (WF-Shirley) Wednesday
called on the state Department of
Environmental Conservation to issue
citations and fines, while
Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie
Kepert called the site “a real
threat to the quality of life.”
The firm,
which uses the 62-acre site to
process raw materials for
composting, plans to implement a
misting system to address odor and
dust issues, according to a
statement from president Charles
Vigliotti. Vigliotti said the
legislators were “highly
irresponsible” for citing the report
before he had a chance to review it.
Donna Cioffi,
a resident who lives next to the
site, said she just wants the odors
gone.
“We’d like to
enjoy our backyards once again . . .
We need the DEC to enforce their
laws,” Cioffi said in a statement.
DEC regional
director Peter Scully released a
statement saying the county report
“raised new and significant
questions regarding composting
activities and the potential for
impacts to public health,” and that
the DEC “will work with the [county]
health department to clarify any
health risks.”
Scully added
that Long Island Compost has been
cited for odor and emissions
violations in the past. The firm was
fined $22,500 in 2007 and received a
notice of violation last month,
state records show.
Long Island
Compost paid $7,500 in 2007 and the
rest of its fine was suspended,
Scully said.
The firm’s
website says the company is Long
Island’s “leading provider of
organic materials, services and
products” and “recycles hundreds of
thousands of tons of leaves, grass
clippings and other
landscape-related materials” each
year.
The county
health report states that the DEC is
responsible for enforcing state laws
at compost facilities. The report
says “all air quality complaints
received from residents should be
taken seriously and investigated.”
The compost
facility’s odors are noticeable
within a quarter-mile radius around
the site, encompassing several dozen
homes, a town source said.
Browning said
she has received dozens of
complaints about the facility over
the past five years. “Sometimes you
come down there and the smell is
disgusting. It’s a really putrid
horrible smell,” she said.
