Around the Region
South Bronx community activists this week welcomed a federal
investigation into whether a high concentration of garbage transfer stations
in their neighborhoods is a civil rights violation. In response to a request
by Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx), the Justice Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency will examine the health effects of 35 garbage transfer
stations in the South Bronx. The stations, which will handle all of the
Bronx' and Upper Manhattan's residential waste, are in the poor and predominantly
black and Hispanic neighborhoods of Hunts Point, Mott Haven and Port Morris.
This lawsuit could affect the Giuliani Administration's plan to move waste
out of NYC by truck. A Daily News investigation last year found a high
level of asthma cases in the South Bronx, including Public School 48 in
Hunts Point, where 30% of the students have asthma. Daily News
