Orangetown Councilman Tom Diviny Releases Statement Regarding ALUF Plastics and TRC

“Over the course of the past 20 months, our town has received many complaints from residents who are concerned about odors they believe are coming from Aluf Plastics in Blauvelt; not only do they have concerns with the smell itself, they have concerns about potential chemicals in our air.

The health and safety of our community is the single most important issue to our Town Board. Our families, our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our community, and everyone passing through breath the air.

“In response to our residents, the Town Board immediately contacted the DEC to commence an investigation. We also reached out to a local group ‘Clean Air For Orangetown,’ received a recommendation for an independent testing agency to test the air surrounding Aluf, and retained the recommended agency, TRC, for testing. This agency is well regarded in the industry. Finally, the DEC and ZBA required Aluf to install an upgraded ventilation system which the DEC and ZBA believe will control any smells (and if not, future fines will be levied).

“The testing was recently completed and revealed concentrations of certain chemicals. Given the fact that we at the Town are not experts in the field, we retained TRC’s own expert, Dr. Karen Ventrano, to analyze the results and better explain what, if any, health safety risks are present. Karen Ventrano opined that “TRC does not believe that exposure to these measured concentrations would result in negative health effects.” Additionally, the report states that the levels are not out of the norm when compared to other communities throughout the US.

“We requested that Dr. Ventrano be available to answer questions so she can better explain to our community. We are fortunate that she is available tonight, and we will have her via conference call to explain her findings and conclusions at 7:45 pm tonight. We welcome any/all residents to attend.”