Photo by Mr. Adrian Camera. Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons.

By Paul Bisceglio

South Bronx residents and community groups filed a lawsuit last Wednesday to halt online grocery delivery service FreshDirect’s relocation from Queens to a new 500,000 square-foot facility in the Harlem River Yards. The residents argued that the city failed to account for the new facility’s adverse environmental effects, the consequence of what residents claim will be the grocery deliverers’ nearly 2,000 daily truck trips.

In February, the announcement of FreshDirect’s move won the praise of city and state officials, who were happy they did not lose the company to New Jersey, according to the New York Times. Locals in the proposed construction area, however, were unwilling to add to neighborhood’s already high levels of noise, pollution and asthma.

The lawsuit was filed in the State Supreme Court in the Bronx. Its defendants include the New York City Industrial Development Agency, FreshDirect and Harlem River Yard Ventures, the Times reports.

FreshDirect contended that the residents’ delivery truck figures were grossly exaggerated. “FreshDirect has 225 trucks and does not come close to making 2,000 trips per day,” a representative told New York Press.

The grocery delivery service also issued the following statement: “Contrary to the assertions made in the recent lawsuit, a thorough environmental impact review commissioned by FreshDirect was already conducted. It showed the new facility will generate far fewer truck trips and result in less traffic when compared to the 1993 approved uses of the Harlem River Yard.”

The lawsuit, however, aims to annul a declaration by the Industrial Development Agency that affirmed FreshDirect’s negligible environmental impact.  If the suit succeeds, FreshDirect would be forced to reevaluate its effects on the environment.

Though West Side auto traffic certainly contributes to pollution levels—the neighborhood is packed with traffic from the West Side Highway and Broadway—the survey found that oil-burning furnaces are a big culprit.

A separate study by the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that 1 percent of the city’s buildings that burn the dirtiest grade of oil—known as No. 4 and 6 oil—accounts for 87 percent of the soot pollution. The Upper West Side, as well as lower Manhattan and the East Side, have a high cluster of buildings that burn these dangerous oils, according to the fund.

Throughout the year, the city’s health department collected and analyzed air samples around the city for four pollutants: fine particles, elemental carbon, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. The survey states that these pollutants have adverse health effects, and cause lung irritation and other respiratory problems, such as asthma and emphysema. Seniors and children are especially at risk.

“It’s been the case for years that New York City air does not meet [Environmental Protection Agency] clean air standards for air pollutants that are known to be harmful,” said Dr. Thomas Matte, director of environmental research at the city’s health department. “If someone lives in a neighborhood where there’s more exposure to air pollution and they have a health condition that predisposes them, they are more likely to be affected.”

Though there are higher rates of asthma and other respiratory problems in neighborhoods like the South Bronx and Harlem, Matte said other factors need to be considered, such as access to quality health care and exposure to pollutants in the home.