WTC questionnaire staff distribution notice, October 2004

of of ^/ of of

-A

/■U Ic 1^ I 1^ IO

I

Group Hails Ruling on Truck Pollution Testing '3 3 o

By Dan Janison Based on that declaration, the Giuliani administra- “Today’s decision has far-reaching implications," g STAFF WRITER tion decided that a further environmental review of said Katherine Kennedy of the nonprofit Natural Re- m City officials failed to properly test the impact of the plan was unnecessary. sources Defense Council. § air pollution caused by trucking its trash to New Jer- But state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Aside from sending the department “back to the sey, a state judges’ panel ruled yesterday. Natural Resources Defense Council disagreed. drawing board to analyze the impact on fine particle An environmental group hailed the 4-0 state Appel- They joined forces and sued, saying the depart- pollution," the appellate court’s ruling could have im- § late Division decision as having “far-reaching impli- ment was required to better assess potential health plications for new power plants and other projects ™ cations for air quality and public health.” danger from tiny particles spewed by the trucks’ die- earlier than once expected, Kennedy said. o Last year, the city closed its last landfill on Staten sei engines. Their arguments were initially rejected "This is important because scientists are now find- ,-< Island, as required by state lawmakers, forcing a in October 2000 by State Supreme Court Justice Stan- ing that fine particulate pollution is linked to lung s major increase in the tonnage of trash trucked out of ley Parness — whose ruling was reversed yesterday. cancer, cardiac problems ... and a host of other medi- < state each day. While there was no immediate word on whether cal problems,” she said. In the late 1990s, the Sanitation Department for- the Bloomberg administration would seek to appeal The Sanitation Department tests that did take g mally declared the increased traffic would have no the unanimous appellate ruling, the state’s highest place made use of pre-1997 standards and focu.sed on g .significant environmental effect. court rarely reviews unanimous findings. pollution around the Holland Tunnel.