By JANE LaTOUR
with photo by GEORGE COHEN

The rest of the Air Pollution Inspectors in the Dept. of Environmental Protection are earthbound, but Eric Gregorius fights pollution from the skies.

Three days a week, the Local 375 member dons a life vest, grabs his notebook and camera, straps himself into a Police Dept. helicopter and hunts like an eagle for environmental criminals.

On one typical day, he teamed up with pilots John Galligan and Mike Hendricks, both sergeants in the NYPD Aviation Unit. Their destination was the Bronx.

Scanning the skies for belching smokestacks from apartments and factories, the pilots and the Air Pollution Inspector work as a team: "There's a smoker to the left," says Hendricks. "It looks like a factory or garage."

"Affirmative," says Mr. Gregorius, his camera poised to catch the evidence on film. Finding the violation and taking the photos starts the process. Mr. Gregorius then heads back to the airfield and his darkroom, where he does all of his own developing by hand. Using a 50-year-old enlarger and trays of chemicals, he makes glossy black-and-white prints and sets out to identify the culprits.

He goes back to the area - this time by car - and locates the building. Then he inspects the boiler room. After he identifies the cause of the violation, DEP mails a summons to the property owner.

The next stop is court. Hearings take place before an Administrative Law Judge at the city's Environmental Control Board. Mr. Gregorius provides the documentary evidence - his photographs of the smoking buildings - as well as his expert testimony.

Eric Gregorius has been "smoke certified" as a Regional Air Pollution Inspector for five years. Every six months, he attends classes to hone his smoke-reading skills and takes a test that measures his ability to read emissions by sight.

As a smokebuster, he is justifiably proud of the role he plays in reducing New York City's air pollution. Enforcement of the Federal Clean Air Act and city regulations on air pollution cuts contaminants and cancer-producing chemicals in the air. The Bronx smokestack was belching benzene, sulfur and other toxins into the air of the borough with the city's highest asthma rate.

Over the last four years, Mr. Gregorius says he sees a definite improvement in New York City's air quality. In his opinion, it is the pressure from aggressive enforcement that has made people take the air quality laws more seriously.

"Our members' mission is to have people comply with the laws and to improve the quality of life for the people of New York," said Chapter 21 President Pat Alfarano.

Cleaner air is one of the great rewards of his job. But New York City's coffers benefit as well. During Fiscal Year 2002, the number of DEP-issued air pollution violations increased. According to the comptroller's office, fines levied against all polluters in 2002 totaled $45 million, up from $43 million the year before.

In his life, the native New Yorker has held many jobs, from boilermaker to auto mechanic. But what he does now is the most satisfying. "It's fun," he says, as he strides across the airfield in his blue silk jacket bearing the legend: "Local 375 - We are New York."