New Heating Oil Rules Would Affect Thousands Of NYC Buildings

[Wilms]

New Heating Oil Rules Would Affect Thousands Of NYC Buildings

02/28/2011

By: Grace Rauh

Brandeis High School on the Upper West Side stays warm in the winter by burning what's known as number six heating oil. It's a high-sulfur oil that emits black smoke from buildings, polluting the air New Yorkers breath.

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The city is proposing to ban the dirtiest type of heating oil by 2015. By 2030, only oil with lowest level of sulfur or natural gas will be allowed.

If the new rules are approved, it won't just be Brandeis High School that has to change its ways. City officials say there are 455 city-owned buildings that use the two worst kinds of heating oils: number four and number six. In all, there are said to be close to 9,000 buildings citywide that do the same.

"These buildings burning four and six oil create more air pollution than all the cars and trucks combined in the city," said Isabelle Silverman of the Environmental Defense Fund.

The city's Department of Environmental Protection held a hearing Monday on the proposed rule changes. Property owners are pushing back hard, saying it will cost too much money to replace or upgrade boilers and put protections in place to ensure the new oil won't leak into the ground.

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http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/news_beats/politics/134749/new-heating-oil-rules-would-affect-thousands-of-nyc-buildings