A Community Solution for a Corporate Problem

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Recent interactions with Waste Management (WM) and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) have once again implied there are concerns with the data collected via the Fresh Air for the Eastside (FAFE) app.

FAFE, Inc. firmly believes that the FAFE app continues to serve as the most beneficial and reliable tool for gathering odor complaints for our community.

In the fall of 2017, FAFE arose from the need to address key community concerns regarding High Acres:

  • WM denial of an ongoing odor nuisance issue - Limited responses from WM leadership adamantly denied, downplayed, and created excuses for odor complaints
  • Lack of accurate, easily accessible, and digestible information around the issue - Town Resources, WM-provided materials, and on-site visits did not provide adequate or consistent facts on the history and current operations at High Acres
  • Lack of verification that complaints were received, logged, and actioned – WM’s 24-hour complaint line left residents with no visibility to how the complaint was followed up on, and to who the complaint was provided visibility

Our community-created, grassroots group has sought to address each of these concerns by providing a means for impacted residents to share information and focus community energy. It is this focus that has allowed for the creation of the FAFE app.

In comparison to complaints made by phone, the Fresh Air for the Eastside App:

  • Allows quick and easy access to log a complaint
  • Provides odor intensity, time, location, temperature, barometric pressure, and wind direction data all based on real-time cell phone data
  • Decreases the likelihood of uncaptured information due to human logging errors
  • Provides a map of recent complaint locations and wind direction to potential reporters
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To date, no one from WM, the Town of Macedon, or the Town of Perinton has contacted FAFE to provide feedback, recommended improvements, or preferred alternatives to the FAFE app.

Similar technology, not sourced and developed by the community may have cost the Town of Macedon, the Town of Perinton, WM, and/or the NYSDEC thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.

FAFE believes that the information provided by our app serves as the most accurate representation of how the community is impacted, in real-time. Our app provides a wealth of pertinent information directly to the very people who need to act on odor issues.

 

Our app acts as a tool for users to submit complaints that would otherwise need to be logged via alternative methods. While we cannot attest to the validity of every complaint, we do request that users submit only when they encounter odors.

WM has claimed to know of false complaints being logged, but declined to provide those false complaints to FAFE. All data shared from FAFE has been scrubbed for potential inaccuracies and outliers. We have always wanted to, will continue to, provide the most accurate data possible to all parties.

Your voice is needed now more than ever. Please, continue to log complaints via the FAFE app whenever you are impacted by odors.