Noise pollution and road closures are just some tiny inconveniences residents will have to endure as a mandatory, ongoing oil-to-gas renovation project by Con Edison continues around Norwood.

For the past few months, crews have dotted parts of Norwood and Bedford Park, replacing oil pipes and introducing natural gas. On Reservoir Oval East, crews closed off the one-way street which, during daytime hours, limited parking spaces while causing some traffic backups. On Perry Avenue, where crews have dug holes abutting the perimeter of residential buildings, the oil-to-gas changeover will be completed in the first week of December with permanent restoration of power to follow suit.

The public utility company has gone on a clean energy offensive over the past couple of years to fulfill its own green energy initiative, but also conforming to environmental law set forth by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Since 2012 Con Edison has been converting many oil pipelines around the borough’s buildings to accommodate natural gas deemed cleaner and cheaper.

“Natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than oil. As a result of burning natural gas instead of oil, air quality in the Bronx will improve,” said Robert McGee, a Con Edison spokesman.

The DEP’s regulation requires numbers 4 and 6 heavy heating oils, considered medium- to low-quality, be swapped out for cleaner natural gas or ultra-low sulfur 2 oil, biodiesel, or steam. The regulations require the grade 6 oil to have been phased out by this past June, and grade 4 changed by January 2030.

So far, the amount of Con Edison-served buildings switched to natural gas this year has exceeded the New York Public Service Commission target. Natural gas is deemed an efficient, safe and reliable fuel source. It’s also cheaper than heating oil, and is one of the cleanest-burning fuels available. “Building owners are switching out of number 2 fuel oil to natural gas because of the price advantage and because natural gas burns cleaner,” said McGee.

Statistics cited by the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability shows “one percent of all buildings in the city produces 86 percent of the total soot pollution from buildings–more than all the cars and trucks in New York City combined.” This is achieved by burning the numbers 4 and 6 oils deemed the dirtiest of oil fuels. On any given day, smoke from oil-powered buildings billows to the air, creating a less-than-comfortable environment. On some days, some blocks in the Fordham area are blanketed with thick clouds of smoke emanating from buildings.

The conversion aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the overall air quality around the city.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.