Hurricane Sandy Response

Hurricane Sandy Response Efforts

Response timeline | January 14, 2013:

General

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at the request of New York City, is using two air curtain incinerators at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, NY to burn vegetative debris, largely from downed trees, gathered in the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy. An air curtain incinerator is a self-contained system that reduces wood debris to ash. It is equipped with air blowers that circulate the air to improve combustion and minimize emissions of fine particles.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has eight fine particle monitors operating around the perimeter of Floyd Bennett Field to monitor for potential impacts of the air curtain devices. An EPA On-Scene Coordinator is on-site while the burning takes place to monitor what is being burned and air quality at the field.

Levels of fine particles are measured by the monitors and averaged over a 24-hour period. Results from the monitors are compared to an established 24-hour health-based standard. That standard is 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air (�g/m3). If the 24-hour standard is exceeded, the EPA will notify the Army Corps and New York City. Monitoring began on December 28.

Air Monitoring for Air Curtain Incinerator
NOTE: On February 12, This information was corrected to reflect a monitor fault. Subsequently, there was no violation of the 24 hour standard on January 13.

Between December 28, 2012 and January 8, 2013, results from operating monitors for the air curtain device burn at Floyd Bennett Field showed that the 24 hour standard had not been violated. On January 13, one of the EPA’s air monitors measured levels that exceeded the 24 hour standard. Similar levels had been measured by several monitors on January 9, 2012.

On January 13, overall weather conditions in NYC resulted in an inversion in the air, which reduced the atmosphere’s ability to mix and dilute pollution.

In order to reduce the impacts of the air curtain devices at Floyd Bennett Field on air quality, steps were taken to limit the operation of the devices to reduce particle emissions.

The EPA’s Air Quality Index for the New York metropolitan area January 13 was at a level considered “moderate,” which means that people who are unusually sensitive to pollution should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion.

The EPA has an established Air Quality Index reports daily air quality across the country. The index indicates how clean or polluted the air in a particular area is and what associated health effects might be a concern. For more information about the Air Quality Index, visit http://airnow.gov/.

Weather conditions have improved and levels of fine particles measured by the air monitors at Floyd Bennett Field have all fallen below the 24 hour standard.

Results of EPA's air monitoring and the locations of the monitors can be found at:
https://www.epa.gov/sandy/data/fbf-results.pdf and
https://www.epa.gov/sandy/pdf/fbf-map.pdf

The image below shows the location of the eight monitors, on Floyd Bennet Field, New York City, surrounding the air curtain burn device. Click on air monitor to see data associated with it.

aerial image of Floyd Bennett Field, New York City showing air monitor locations on a runway surrounding the air curtain burn device