One of 125,000
DC
37 Everyday
heroes
Smokebuster
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Eric Gregorius fights air pollution from a helicopter. Armed with a camera and a telephoto lens, the Air Pollution Inspector takes to the skies three days a week to spot belching smokestacks and guarantee cleaner air for all New Yorkers.
By JANE LaTOUR
with photo by GEORGE COHEN
The rest of the Air Pollution Inspectors in the Dept. of Environmental
Protection are earthbound, but Eric Gregorius fights pollution from
the skies.
Three days a week, the Local 375 member dons a life vest, grabs
his notebook and camera, straps himself into a Police Dept. helicopter
and hunts like an eagle for environmental criminals.
On one typical day, he teamed up with pilots John Galligan and Mike
Hendricks, both sergeants in the NYPD Aviation Unit. Their destination
was the Bronx.
Scanning the skies for belching smokestacks from apartments and
factories, the pilots and the Air Pollution Inspector work as a
team: "There's a smoker to the left," says Hendricks.
"It looks like a factory or garage."
"Affirmative," says Mr. Gregorius, his camera poised to
catch the evidence on film. Finding the violation and taking the
photos starts the process. Mr. Gregorius then heads back to the
airfield and his darkroom, where he does all of his own developing
by hand. Using a 50-year-old enlarger and trays of chemicals, he
makes glossy black-and-white prints and sets out to identify the
culprits.
He goes back to the area - this time by car - and locates the building.
Then he inspects the boiler room. After he
identifies the cause of the violation, DEP mails a summons to the
property owner.
The next stop is court. Hearings take place before an Administrative
Law Judge at the city's Environmental Control Board. Mr. Gregorius
provides the documentary evidence - his photographs of the smoking
buildings - as well as his expert testimony.
Eric Gregorius has been "smoke certified" as a Regional
Air Pollution Inspector for five years. Every six months, he attends
classes to hone his smoke-reading skills and takes a test that measures
his ability to read emissions by sight.
As a smokebuster, he is justifiably proud of the role he plays in
reducing New York City's air pollution. Enforcement of the Federal
Clean Air Act and city regulations on air pollution cuts contaminants
and cancer-producing chemicals in the air. The Bronx smokestack
was belching benzene, sulfur and other toxins into the air of the
borough with the city's highest asthma rate.
Over the last four years, Mr. Gregorius says he sees a definite
improvement in New York City's air quality. In his opinion, it is
the pressure from aggressive enforcement that has made people take
the air quality laws more seriously.
"Our members' mission is to have people comply with the laws
and to improve the quality of life for the people of New York,"
said Chapter 21 President Pat Alfarano.
Cleaner air is one of the great rewards of his job. But New York
City's coffers benefit as well. During Fiscal Year 2002, the number
of DEP-issued air pollution violations increased. According to the
comptroller's office, fines levied against all polluters in 2002
totaled $45 million, up from $43 million the year before.
In his life, the native New Yorker has held many jobs, from boilermaker
to auto mechanic. But what he does now is the most satisfying. "It's
fun," he says, as he strides across the airfield in his blue
silk jacket bearing the legend: "Local 375 - We are New York."