Sewage Odor and Newtown Sewage Treatment Plant

True story, recently happened to me…

GREENPOINT RESIDENTS THAT SMELL SEWAGE in the air:
1) Dial 311
2) Tell person you want to make an odor complaint regarding the Newtown Sewage Treatment Plant. You’ll be asked for some info and then you should be transferred to the DEP
3) Tell the DEP exactly what, when, where, how bad, etc. Give them your address and a phone number where they can reach you.
4) You will get a call from the Newtown Sewage Treatment Plant Communications Office. They will ask you to verify your name, address, etc.
5) You can expect a personal visit from a Sewage Plant odor inspector. This person will have a handheld device that measures Hydorgen Sulfide (aka the poo-poo smell).

Just so you know, all 311 calls are taken seriously and they will dispatch a person day, weekend, holiday.

They look at wind direction, temperature, weather, and investigate all possible points in the flow, including sewar cap areas, flow regulators (these adjust to heavy rain flow and sometimes can be stuck open, allowing sewage gas to go in our direction…).

Bottom line: If you SMELL something, SAY something!!

Every call you make to 311 is given a ticket number. These get turned nto metrics and MIS data that lots of groups can use. Neighborhoods that live near such plants need to be MUCH MORE VOCAL.

Considering the history of Greenpoint and the Sewage Treatment Plant, we could all use a nasal break…please get involved.

Jerry

P.S. The above steps should also be true for the other 13 sewage treatment plants around NYC…