Trouble in the air at Yaphank industrial park

INDUSTRial park

The people who work at the Sills Industrial Park in Yaphank say things stink, and they're not talking about their pay or their jobs. They're talking about the air.Diana Fava says that when she steps outside the door of her company's offices at the park, she is often overwhelmed by the odor of rotting garbage.

"I've felt queasy," said Fava, an executive assistant at Fiber-Shield Industry, one of about 100 companies in the park. "Nobody wants to step outside."

Fava and others say they trace the problem to the Winter Brothers Transfer Station, a garbage transfer facility right next to the industrial park. They have made repeated calls to the regional office of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Industrial park officials say that some companies are thinking of moving out entirely.

John O'Hara, president of the Brookhaven Industrial Group Association, which represents Sills and other industrial parks, said the odor problem has been serious for the last three years.

"The odor gets so intense it gets inside the buildings," O'Hara said. "People have to leave work. One rather large company is looking to move, sooner rather than later," O'Hara said. He wrote the town and DEC demanding more action.

Winter Brothers officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Aphrodite Montalvo, a state DEC spokeswoman, said the agency monitors the situation at Winter Brothers regularly and has taken several steps to mitigate odors. The company, she said, was required to install high-speed doors to contain odors from incoming trucks. It was also told to reduce the amount of garbage it receives. Montalvo said complaints have dropped, from seven in July to one in August.

O'Hara said the problem is still bad. He wrote DEC regional director Peter Scully, "We have noticed that the high-speed doors remain open for extended periods of time." In a phone interview, O'Hara said, "I think the people who were calling got tired of calling. "They [DEC officials] have to do more."