Ensuring Clean Air on Second Avenue
While I believe the Second Avenue Subway project will help alleviate congestion on the Lexington Avenue Subway lines and buses, the health and safety of the community must come first.
In recent months, I have become especially concerned about the possibility of pollutants in the dust clouds from the blasting at the construction site. To date, the MTA has only released preliminary data concerning exactly what materials are in the dust.
In order to gain additional oversight, I have called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to monitor any health hazards from the construction. OSHA has visited the site and will release a report of their findings in the next several weeks. The EPA and DEC have also agreed to monitor the air quality and review the MTA's data.
In response to the increased public scrutiny, the MTA placed a moratorium on blasting in late November. After a two week hiatus, the MTA has resumed blasting but on a much smaller scale in an effort to reduce the size and frequency of dust clouds.
Our neighborhood deserves clean air and I will continue to fight to ensure that our community is not put at risk during the construction of the subway.
Micah Kellner