Document Lq2J0OwL71oqxnkwJk26EgD7

FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1971 Apr 24 DOC NMA052 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION NYT - Letter to the Editor - Pollution War City on the Offensive Pollution War City on the Offensive ROBERT N. RICKLE New York Times Currentfile Apr 24 1971 ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times 1851 - 2002 Pg 28 Letters to the Editor Pollution War City on the Offensive To the Editor Contrary to the suggestion of your April 14 editorial Mr. Aurelio's Image the Department of Air Resources does not practice government by making We are attacking air pollution from a multitude of sources on many levels The initiative on automotive sources does not mean we have downgraded the upgrading of incinerators and oll burners Approximately 60 per cent of our staff of 260 continues to be de- voted to enforcement of : upgrading laws With the final denial by the United States Supreme Court of the landlord's challenges to the law we are now making rapid progress Eleven violating Incinerators have been sealed with more on the way Many hundreds of contracts for new refuse compactors have recently been signed Ask any major landlord or public agency whether there's been any let in pressure to get this job completed by the end of 1972 In addition a new industrial pollution task force has opened a drive on the 6,000 industrial polluters in the city Over sixty notices to seal equipment have been issued If the City Council acts rapidly on the pending pollution control code the greatest reductions to date of sulfur dioxide will occur this fall and controls will be placed on important contributors to photochemical smog and other pollutants such as lead and asbestos The exhibit at the Automobile Show was never intended to convey an ad- ministration image but rather to introduce new segments of the public to a different way of looking at the use of urban space and the role of the car in the center city and to inform them of the city's leadership in developing pollution vehicles for urban use The exhibit was a first step in building apparently still needed public support for major traffic restrictions This education process will continue throughout the next six months opening the public's eyes to the true cost of midtown traffic congestion in terms of noise air pollution litter time lost threats to personal safety sacrifice of valuable urban space inefficiency of delivery of goods and the creation of barriers to personal communication which is what a city is all about When this is more generally understood the plans of those of us who dream of a more human city will be able to be translated into reality - ROBERT N. Rickles Rickles Commissioner New York City Department of Air Resources New York April 14 1971 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission