Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is hailing the closure of the New York Organic Fertilizer Company (NYOFCO) plant in Hunts Point. Thanks to the closure, this will mark the first summer since 1992 that neighborhood residents will be able to spend time outdoors without being forced to deal with the noxious odors emanating from the sludge processing plant.
The plant, which has been processing human waste from New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) wastewater treatment plants into fertilizer pellets for the past 18 years, will begin to wind down operations this week.
“The closing of this plant has been a major priority of mine from the day I entered elected office,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “Finally, we are able to declare victory in the fight against this environmental nuisance, and the residents of Hunts Point will be able to breathe easier at long last. This has been a long fight, but it was a fight worth having. A healthier Bronx is a top priority of my administration, and this is a major step towards that goal.”
The closing of the NYOFCO plant in Hunts Point heralds the era of a cleaner, greener Bronx, where the health and well-being of Bronxites is no longer compromised by incompetent industrial operations. However, while the exit of NYOFCO from the Hunts Point neighborhood is a cause for celebration, many are cautious about the fact that this turn of events will add truck traffic to the streets of Hunts Point, which are already overburdened with trucks traveling to and from this industrial neighborhood.
