9,000 Buildings Burn Heating Oil From the Bottom of the Barrel

See which New York City buildings cause significant pollution, and how they can change

Posted: 16-Dec-2009; Updated: 24-Aug-2010

9,000 Buildings Burn Heating Oil From the Bottom of the Barrel

Thick, black smoke from heating systems is a common sight. Switching to cleaner fuel can dramatically cut pollution.
55 East 34th Street, New York, NY
photo: Patti McConville

What EDF is Doing at Our Building

EDF's headquarters are in a building that burns No. 6 oil (257 Park Avenue South). We gave our landlord information on how to switch to cleaner fuel, and urged them to do so.

As of January 2010, our landlord has informed us that they are planning to switch to natural gas. We are trying to get more information from them regarding timing of the conversion.

EDF's Isabelle Silverman talks with CBS News about the pollution caused by dirty heating fuel.

UPDATE - In his January 2010 State of City speech, Mayor Mike Bloomberg pledged his administration will be "greening the heating fuels used in our schools and big buildings." EDF praised the mayor for addressing this pressing issue.

A report from Environmental Defense Fund shows that just one percent of New York City's buildings, those burning the dirtiest grades of heating oil, produce more pollution than all the city's cars and trucks combined. The report "The Bottom of the Barrel: How the Dirtiest Heating Oil Pollutes Our Air and Harms Our Health," advocates phasing out the dirty oil by 2020.

The pollution produced by burning No. 4 or 6 oil—some 1,000 tons of it every year—threatens the health of all New Yorkers, creating a rain of toxic soot that aggravates asthma, increases the risk of cancer, exacerbates respiratory illnesses and can cause premature death.

About 9,000 buildings, many in the city's wealthiest neighborhoods, use this unrefined sludge. The Flatiron Building (5th Avenue and 23rd St.) and The Dakota (Central Park West at 72nd St.) are among a number of iconic structures that burn it.

EDF has created this interactive map so that every tenant with a mouse can see if their building, or others nearby, use dirty oil and take action to help them convert to cleaner fuel. The map web site also lets users send a message to the mayor, asking him to phase out permits to burn the dirtiest oils.

If your building burns dirty oil, work with your property manager to switch to cleaner fuel. Building managers and owners can improve air quality and often lower operating costs by:

switching to No. 2 heating oil or natural gas, and
implementing efficiency measures.

This map is a companion to the report The Bottom of The Barrel [PDF], from Environmental Defense Fund and The Urban Green Council. The report details the threat to our air quality and offers solutions to cut soot pollution from heating systems by over 90%.

The report contains:

policy recommendations to the city for banning dirty heating oil,
guidance for converting buildings to cleaner fuels and
proper maintenance and efficiency measures to help reduce heating fuel expenses, saving thousands of dollars a year.