Asserting a large debris pile at its cement mixing facility is creating dust havoc and respiratory issues on the East Side, Mayor Joe Ganim on Thursday announced the city is fining O&G Industries $100 per day for violating the anti-blight ordinance.
“O&G’s debris pile is really starting to look like Mount Trashmore II–and we have had enough,” said Ganim in a statement, a reference to a pile of illegal demolition debris he ordered removed from the East End in the early tenure of JG1. “This cement facility on the East Side of our city has been an eyesore for years, and now we are taking action because of the health risks to residents caused by the company’s negligence. Every day this company fails to be a good neighbor and clean up its mountain of debris will be very costly. The fines will build up by at least $100 per day, and if O&G fails to clean up its property it could lead to thousands of dollars in fines and a lien on the facility. Obviously we hope that O&G starts behaving like a good corporate citizen but we will hold them accountable if they continue to act irresponsibly. The health of Bridgeport residents is our top priority and we will not hesitate to protect our community.”
Property owners can be found in violation of anti-blight ordinances when “It is determined by the city that existing conditions pose a serious or immediate danger to the community; i.e., a life threatening condition or a condition, which puts at risk the health or safety of citizens of the city.”
City officials say that under the anti-blight ordinance, O&G has 15 days to respond to the city citation or clean up the property, or face a fine of up to $1,500 as well as a hearing. After 30 days without cleanup, the company faces a fine of $3,000 and the city could take legal action to impose a lien on the property, impairing further transactions such as the sale of the facility until the lien is paid.
Neighborhood opposition is building against O&G Industries relocating its rock crushing and asphalt operation to Howard Avenue in the West End. A Facebook page “No To O&G” has been launched.
This poison pile/facility does not belong in such a densely populated area such as Bridgeport. Joe Ganim has publicly stated his opposition to the Seaview site but HAS NOT stated publicly his opinion on the proposed move to Howard Avenue/West End. The O&G site does not belong there either. It provides very little in taxes and just employs a handful of people. The airborne debris caused by this operation is toxic and dangerous. We are awaiting some words of support from Ganim. In the meantime, a concerned group of citizens has formed the NO TO O&G. Group. Please visit their FB page and get involved if you can.
How about the city of Bridgeport and its police department do something about all the self-important assholes who park illegally in Black Rock, blocking fire hydrants, impeding traffic flow, littering?
Bridgeport Kid, TWO ISSUES. You don’t go by your REAL name. I do! What does your statement here have ANYTHING to do WHATSOEVER with the O&G plans?
Hey Frank,
Fuck yourself. Everyone knows who I am so you can put that to bed. Get off your high horse, take a pill and get over yourself.
Frank, you know that and I know that, but where in hell are the elected officials from the East End? Why aren’t they, James Holloway, Eneida Martínez and Andre Baker outraged and appalled at this being in their district? Where in hell is that do-nothing District Leader Ralph Ford and why isn’t he outraged and appalled? There are no jobs for family members or money to be made by standing up for what’s right, moral and just.
When they wanted to put this cement mixing facility on the East End several years ago, the only people who demonstrated against this was Rep. Chris Caruso and his people. Not one damned elected official from the 139th. It seems as if none of them will do a damned thing until/unless a white man tells them what to do or when they should care. Damned shame.
Donald, bravo, bravo, excellent!!!
Don, nothing has changed in the East End, remember this?
Connecticut Post
Bridgeport residents fearing a new ‘Mount Trashmore’
Tim Loh, Staff Writer
Published 12:21 am, Wednesday, October 13, 2010
In the early 1990s, residents won an eight-year battle to remove a 40-foot pile of rubbish from 329 Central Ave., which had come to be known as “Mount Trashmore.”
Don, think about that, it took eight years to remove a 40-foot pile of rubbish, eight years. It took the Rev. Jessie Jackson to come to Bridgeport to lead a protest march from here to the steps of the State Capital, this became a national news story. How in hell does a 40-foot pile of rubbish remain there plus Mt. Trashmore was just two from Rev. Vernon Thompson’s church, East End Baptist Tabernacle Church who was appointed to a City job. Mayor Ganim and Connecticut’s Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal were both late in the game, they didn’t say anything until things got out of control.
Donald Day and Ron Mackey, THANK YOU.
Mr.Day, I agree with you 100%. The fact East End “leaders” let this poison pile grow and poison the residents of the East End is unforgivable. Last night, the ZBA told O&G to go to hell and start paying fines. What I am concerned about is this will allow O&G to segue into moving their poison pile to the West End, close to PT, close to schools, close to thousands of Bridgeporters. Joe Ganim HAS NOT made a public comment on the West End site. The sins of the Seaview site are comparable to the new West End Site. O&G to place their poison pile close to members of our community who may not have the strongest and most vocal voice. This does seem to be the end of the Seaview Story. The next battle will be O&G’s attempt to move to the West Side/Howard Avenue. That may prove to be a much tougher fight.
Paging Ed Gomes, too.
I think O&G should move to Ansonia. Bridgeport doesn’t need the industry nor the tax base.
$100 a day?! That’s a bad joke. It should be thousands a day if you want to get their attention and have them act sooner rather than later.
I hope the City of Bridgeport Health Department has been monitoring the airborne particles coming off this pile of rubble. Asbestos was used extensively in construction along with other carcinogens.
This city had better check where this material is coming from, O&G and this Administration could be open for a very big lawsuit.
My thoughts exactly, Dave!!! (How about a lawsuit for damages to the health and well-being of Bridgeport residents, as well as for damages to the Bridgeport economy/municipal grand list value?)
What about the dividends lost over the years this operation has been in its present location? A beautiful ocean view lost to developers because there are rocks blocking any appreciation.
Exactly.
+1, Dave.
+1, Jeff.
+1, Hector.
+1, Jenn.
It’s eminently obvious there is not a location in Bridgeport, east or west, suitable for O&G. This is a company whose owners and managers have chosen a visual presentation that mocks our city’s vital and historic “Park City” identity. (To say nothing of its health.)
I understand O&G requires access to a navigable waterway (ruling out Ansonia). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports Connecticut has 618 miles of tidal shoreline and waterways. Can our leaders find a few acres somewhere suitable for O&G?
The comments about leadership are valid, but we seem to be at the point, recall this thread is about Mayor Ganim’s action, where leadership is gradually coming around to the popular opinion.
I wouldn’t say leadership is in any way coming around. They are doing the minimal possible to appease a group of loud but weak we argued citizens. The fact is, O&G owns the property it is moving to, and they are being forced out of their other location because the city wanted to develop the area. And unless the city wants to give them an area on another riverfront where they can move their items to and do their business, they have a right to operate in their industrial zoned area. The area they’re moving to is absolutely disgusting. Is the armpit of Bridgeport. This area will never be a developed waterfront. These people will never get what they want. Because O&G is not in the wrong and the city knows it, which is why they are only fining them $100 a day. But sure, let’s try that another tax pair so the citizens can pay for absolutely 100% of everything in this godforsaken rathole.
No more business or industry in Bridgeport! I demand all citizens pay all the taxes! No industrial work should be allowed in industrial zones! We don’t need business taxes, we have Black Rock and the North End! Long live bad arguments for NIMBYs over common sense!
stevenl, your sarcastic remarks are very transparent but your remarks do not make any sense either. If you are in favor of allowing poisonous and toxic industry in Bridgeport, all you have to do is simply come out and say it in a straightforward manner. No need to play your linguistic games.
Yes! Let’s chase O&G out of Bpt! Let’s have them pick up and leave, force them to then clean up that lot, that way it can remain empty and abandoned! Let’s take it off the tax rolls once and for all! I would bet West Haven/Longwharf would welcome O&G to their industrial waterfront in a heartbeat! It’s so beautiful down there, it’s a shame O&G chose to mess it up. The “thousands” of cars getting off the highway to go to Bass Pro shouldn’t have to drive by that pile of dirt, it really distracts from the beauty in that neighborhood.
That’s the ticket! Let’s run out one of the few taxpayers subsidizing the citizen’s taxes–because everybody knows they pay for everything anyway and have more abandoned lots in industrial zones where it’s dirty and disgusting and toxic. Three cheers for the NIMBYs!
Oh yes, that’s it. Let them continue to poison the Black and Latino youth who live in this area so their taxes can offer tax relief for the North End and Black Rock. Let’s move this to the North End and see if those residents would love the tax relief it affords them.
Obviously stevenl, you don’t give a damn about our youth, but I am safe in my opinion you wouldn’t have this toxic pile of shit in your white neighborhood!
With ownership of land come responsibilities indicated by State law, local zoning and health regulations and reasonable enforcement with penalties that have teeth. Taxes are also part of the deal.
Others have expressed long-term unhappiness with the pile of debris in the East End that never seems to decrease. I have become concerned with how 12 acres of debris will fit into 5 acres of shoreline right next to the Wheelabrator facility. And how another manufacturing plant fits into the “light industrial” zone designation that covers much of this area east of Bostwick. Residents of PTBarnum have identified health concerns around childhood asthma victims for years. And the need/requirement for using the body of water identified variously as Burr Creek, Cedar Creek and Black Rock Harbor was not developed in detail at the hearing I attended, so the two important activities should be viewed initially independently, perhaps. Will O&G live up to common sense requirements for maintaining their ongoing crushing and debris storage operation in the East End? And at the same time, what is a highest and best use for the five-acre site in the Howard Ave area on the waterfront? Overriding this is the Economic Development question of the acres owned by O&G and the values attributed to the land (and the taxes that are paid) relative to the future potential for increased values and taxes? Time will tell.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
This is “Environmental Racism.” I found this article about the proposed asphalt plants for Bridgeport and hopefully it can be helpful.
Residents, who have watched their communities gradually deteriorate as dirty industries profited, are taking a stand. They came out in force, 600 strong, to a recent public hearing on the proposal. As attorneys defending the proposal droned on into the night, neighborhood kids, proud of their sudden celebrity, marched through the Common Council chambers carrying signs with messages like “I Don’t Smoke, Drink or Breathe in Asphalt Fumes.”
Even if the proposed plants are as quiet and environmentally self-contained as their defenders say they are, there would still be considerable concern about the so-called “fugitive emissions” rising from the asphalt-carrying trucks that would use residential streets. Citing grassroots health initiatives that kept out asphalt plants in Massachusetts and in North Carolina, state representative Chris Caruso noted Bridgeport’s elevated levels of bronchitis, asthma and emphysema. Indeed, a recent Bridgeport Community Health Profile found that 21 percent of the households surveyed had kids with asthma, three times the U.S. average.
“It’s ridiculous, an insult,” says Hispanic community activist Willie Matos, who adds that the Strategic Plan for the city that he helped devise calls for clean industries only.
There’s nothing new about dumping on Bridgeport. The existence of a 100-foot-tall “Mount Trashmore” on the city’s East Side brought Jesse Jackson to town in the early ’90s for a march against pollution. Illegal dumps are common, as are brownfield sites–the closed and contaminated plants that are the legacy of a once-vibrant manufacturing city. Now the Resco “garbage-to-energy” incinerator dominates the city skyline from its position in the city’s African-American and Hispanic west side, and residents are fighting a huge expansion of the local utility’s mostly coal-fired electric plants. “They call Bridgeport ‘the armpit of the East,'” Percell told a weekend rally in front of his home. “They keep bringing in dirtier and dirtier proposals, and Mayor Joe Ganim [the recipient of both asphalt developers’ campaign largesse] keeps giving them what they want.”
Joe Ganim finally did come out against the asphalt plants–on the day the state Senate voted to impose a two-year statewide moratorium on their construction. Too little, too late, say the asphalt activists, who point out that the mayor only took a stand when the plants were politically dead. As for the asphalt developers, both of whom live out of town, Jaree Noblin says “maybe they’d feel differently about it if they had to live here.”
CONTACT:
Toxics Action Center
41 South Main Street, Suite 5
West Hartford, CT 06017
Tel: (860) 233-7623
So let me get this straight, the city is fining the very company that has free office space in city hall located at 999 Broad Street $100 a day.
Pure propaganda.
There is no doubt that pile is ugly. Let me ask, have there been any environmental studies done at this location? Has the state taken samples from this site? It’s all well and good to say there is pollution there, but where are the test results?
Andy, that’s right. That’s why I post the article about the asphalt plant because of the health notice about those living in that area. It was Chris Caruso who noted Bridgeport’s elevated levels of bronchitis, asthma and emphysema and Chris was not our State Representative but he was doing what was right.
Ron, that was a proposed asphalt plant. This is not an asphalt plant but a gravel making operation.
Andy, you are correct but I was showing what was done before. What are the health issues and the danger? That was done with the asphalt plant and also the lack of support from Mayor Ganim G1.
This week we learned there are two things in Bridgeport that in his estimation can be valued at $100 per day. One is the daily rate for a one-night use of his new condo in Black Rock, and the other is the fee for long-term gross inattention to health and safety rules for the crushing operation on Seaview Ave. Do either seem to grab your attention as fair numbers? Of course, if you have a problem at O&G on Seaview Ave, it is unlikely the Mayor will personally provide an answer. (Anyone getting sad about the passing of “brown bag Wednesdays?”) Time will tell.
DD, that’s racist bullshit. I’ve lived my entire life in that part of town, between GE, Remington and Carpenter Steel. Decon St. is the closest residential street to O&G and that’s about a quarter mile away (actually 3/10th). If O&G is doing something wrong then work with them to fix it. Stop chasing industries out of Bridgeport. This isn’t Myrtle Beach, it’s Bridgeport, an industrial town. If you’re so worried about Bridgeport children then let’s concentrate on being business friendly, grow a tax base and lower property taxes. That will give our children a future.
Quentin: The anger and criticism here isn’t “anti-business,” it’s anti-pollution/anti-blight. What is the $ tradeoff of having that O&G operation on the waterfront and downwind of neighborhoods? How much are the taxable surroundings devalued by that operation? How many potential taxpaying businesses have avoided relocating to that area because of the presence of that debris mountain and its dust dunes? What much higher-value tax base, and jobs, are being denied access to that site and surrounding area and how much is that costing us in opportunity costs. Make no mistake, O&G’s Mount Crushmore on SEAVIEW Avenue is costing us a lot more that it is contributing.
Jeff, do you know where I can find the Health and Safety report?
How many years now has Steelpointe been sitting idle? No one is flocking to Bridgeport for that “Deluxe apartment in the sky.” We need industry, small businesses and jobs. I have over 20 years experience in the environmental, health and safety field. Graduate of Keene College OSHA training program and a certified DOT and IADA hazardous material shipper. Like I said, if O&G is doing something wrong let’s work to fix it, not drive them out.
All, whether anyone likes it or not we are on the verge of bankruptcy. We can’t be so quick to drive businesses out for a real or perceived threat. I’m not an expert or a scientist but believe me if I see any dangers in any report I’ll bring it up to OIB. And then let’s try to fix it first.
The fines are a pittance at best, and the administration is getting some good press out of it. What is a few thousand to a multi-million dollar company? O&G will use this existing situation of fines, etc. as the reason to move, in a court action to get approval of the new location. Lawsuits cost the city money.
The administration will support the move as a good solution to take care of a bad situation for the people. Reason: because the new location will be very regulated and the blow-off dust contained.
Preliminary research from government information shows no measurable hazard from cement (silica) dust for residents. The partials from the dust are very large. Parts per million are almost unmeasurable. Actually those who live in desert communities and farmers are at a greater risk for silica inhalation but even that is also minimal.
Just one note. Many on this blog during last year’s election were also complaining about potholes and road conditions. You can’t fix one without the other.
Old saying–“careful what you ask for, you might get it.”
QD, get off that racist soapbox bullshit. It gets tiring to hear you constantly say everything you don’t agree with is racist. You wouldn’t want this pile of junk outside your home for your children or grandchildren to breathe and the fact you don’t mind it being around the homes of blacks and Latinos speaks volumes. As a point of information it’s Deacon St and had you lived over there you would have known that!
Inhaling silica can lead to serious, sometimes fatal illnesses including silicosis, lung cancer, tuberculosis (in those with silicosis), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, silica exposure has been linked to other illnesses including renal disease and other cancers. What say you, smart ass?
DD, that bullshit doesn’t play with me. I guess you didn’t read the entire post. I lived there my whole life, still do. As you like to say, “stay in your own lane.” Ansonia.
Where is the outrage for Helen Street for the last 30 years? A place where there is real health and safety issues, asbestos, lead, unsafe buildings, blight.
QD, I suspect you are confusing me with someone else, my lane extends from where I’m going to where I want to be. There are about 70 blacks, Latinos and women from Bridgeport I’ve either helped get hired and/or promoted within the Bridgeport Fire Department who are glad I didn’t stay in my lane. What say you, smart ass?
Okay, let us all agree something has to be done with O/G. It is an eyesore and a health hazard, okay I get it. Let us not make another mistake of the past. Where is the plan to have something in place that will take its place and will bring in the same amount of taxes? With the history of the city when it takes decades to get any progress with anything, the residents can take on the vacancy of another business. No one seemed to notice or cared when the factories were leaving but look what happened to the mil rate since.
Everyone else is paying higher taxes to take up the slack and this has to stop. Once again it’s a reflection of the poor management choices and choices made by inept administrations. Until there is plan to start building the minute that last truck rolls off of Seaview Avenue, O/G should stay for now.