Judge says no to waste facility at Brooklyn park
There will be no compost waste processing facility in Brooklyn’s Spring Creek Park, Supreme Court Justice Bernard Graham ruled late last month — at least not until the facility obtains approval from the New York State Legislature.
Approximately 20 acres of Spring Creek Park, a city-owned park located in the New Lots section of Brooklyn, had been operating as a waste facility to compost leaves, tree stumps and manure collected from other city parks from 2001 through 2002 via memorandum of understanding between the NYC Parks Commissioner and the Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation. The portion of the property used for composting had been bordered off and made inaccessible for public use.
After receiving notice that it needed an operating permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and that the previously executed memo of understanding was an inappropriate grant of approval, the city ceased operation of the compost facility and applied for a DEC permit.