 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Our Coalition and the Issues We Face |
|
| |
|
|
| |
November 2005
NYS Court of Appeals, Without Explanation,
Denies CWCWC's Motion to be Heard
NYC Department of Environmental
Protection’s (DEP) fight to install a massive, technically obsolete DAFF $1.5
billion water treatment plant in Van Cortlandt Park in a largely minority area
of the Bronx took another step forward Tuesday. The NYS Court of Appeals
denied, without any explanation, CWCWC's lawsuit asking that DEP consider for its
plant newer, more widely-used and effective, less expensive and environmentally
harmful technologies such as membrane filtration.
Instead, DEP has destroyed 42 acres
of neighborhood parkland turning a verdant landscape with hundreds of
mature trees that filtered and protected Bronx residents from exhaust fumes of
several major highways into a moonscape—to dig a hole 80 feet deep and 8 acres
in area to “hide” its proposed plant. Membrane requires only a foundation and 2
acres in area. 1, 200,000 cubic yards of dirt and rock will have to be blasted
and removed by a large diesel-powered truck exiting the park every 2 minutes
for DEP’s choice. And, membrane filtration costs $1/2 billion less.
The Bronx has the highest pediatric
asthma death rate of all five boroughs; NYC has the second highest asthma rate
in the nation. It is well-documented that even a small increase in air
pollution, in particular from diesel trucks, will only worsen this already
toxic environment and increase the death rate.
Fay Muir of Clean Water for the
Bronx states that the American Lung Association finds the Bronx among the 10%
dirtiest counties in the nation for added cancer and non-cancer risks from
hazardous air pollutants. Cancer risks in the Bronx are over 100 times the
goal set by the Clean Air Act and diesel emissions are the highest contributor.
The power structure in NYC has refused to listen to the voice of reason and the
cry for justice for its most vulnerable citizens. Bronx residents and
environmentalists are outraged that instead, Mayor Bloomberg, after offering an
irresistible $200 million to the Bronx parks to seal the deal, and DEP are
recklessly proceeding with DAFF. Tragically, the cost of this choice will
burden those same vulnerable citizens with a hyper-regressive water and sewer
rate.
The water that the plant proposes to treat is still high quality. It does not
require this massive and destructive remedy. It does not justify the death of
a single child.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Does the Croton Color Problem Require a 1.5 Billion
Chemical Treatment/Filtration Plant in Van Cortlandt Park ? |
 |
| |
DEP latest quarterly report on the condition of Croton water
Editors note:
According to DEP's latest report color is an aesthetic problem not a health related problem |
| |
The City is not being required to filter its two largest systems, the Catskill and Delaware systems. For the reasons described below, the City, the State and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have determined that the Croton system(the City’s oldest, supplying about 10% of the City’s daily drinking water, which in times of drought can supply up to30%) should be filtered.
The Croton System
 Croton system water is not currently filtered, which constitutes a treatment technique violation under federal and State drinking water regulations. Due to its unique history and geography (very different from both the Catskill and Delaware systems), the Croton system also experiences seasonal water quality problems associated with elevated color levels, resulting from naturally occurring minerals and organic matter present in the water. Although this condition is aesthetic and not health-related, it may require the City to discontinue use of Croton system water while color levels remain elevated, or to blend Croton system water with Catskill system water.
Filtration
The City’s goal is to ensure that Croton system water is at all times protected against microbiological contamination, is aesthetically pleasing, and meets all drinking water quality standards. The City is, therefore, proceeding with the design and construction of a filtration plant for Croton system water,pursuant to the terms of a November 1998 federal court Consent Decree, entered into with the United States and the State of New York. The filtration facility is expected to reduce color levels in the Croton system water, reduce the risk of microbiological contamination, reduce disinfection by-product levels and ensure compliance with stricter water quality standards.
The Consent Decree, as modified in May 2002, required the City to evaluate and choose between three potential sites for the filtration plant: two in the Bronx, at the Mosholu Golf Course or along the Harlem River in the vicinity of Fordham Road, and on eat East view in Westchester County. The Mosholu Golf Course site lies within Van Cortlandt Park, a public park in the Bronx.The City sought State legislation authorizing the alienation of the Mosholu Golf Course site for the purpose of constructing,operating and maintaining a Croton filtration plant. In July2003, after passage by the State Legislature, the Governor approved such legislation and signed it into law. A Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, comparing the three sites, was released on June 30, 2004 and it identified the Mosholu Golf Course Site as the preferred site for the facility. On September 28, 2004, the City issued a notice to proceed to begin the first phase of construction of the filtration plant.
The Law
Until the City begins to filter Croton water, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection is required to send to customers of the Croton Water Supply, the following information quarterly:
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets drinking water standards and has determined that the presence of microbiological contaminants is a health concern at certain levels of exposure. If water is inadequately treated, microbiological contaminants in that water may cause disease. Disease symptoms may include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, and possibly jaundice, and any associated headaches and fatigue. These symptoms, however, are not just associated with disease-causing organisms in water, but also may be caused by a number of factors other than your drinking water. EPA has set enforceable requirements for treating drinking water to reduce the risk of these adverse health effects. Treatment such as filtering and disinfecting the water removes or destroys microbiological contaminants. Drinking water which is treated to meet EPA requirements is associated with little to none of this risk and should be considered safe. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
In Brief: |
|
| |
|
|
| |
- CWCWC Opposes the DEP’s Proposed Chemical Treatment/Filtration of the Croton
- CWCWC Opposes Development in the Watershed that could degrade water quality in its streams and reservoirs or harm its wetlands.
INSTEAD, THE COALITION ADVOCATES THE ADOPTION OF A COMPREHENSIVE
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN AND THE EXPLORATION OF ALTERNATIVES
TO CHEMICAL TREATMENT/FILTRATION |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| The New York City Water Supply |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 New York City's watershed, that supplies it with over one billion gallons per day, covers an area of close to 2000 square miles both east of Hudson (EOH) and west of Hudson (WOH). The Catskill and Delaware systems (Cat/Del), which lie mostly WOH, together normally supply 90% of the water. However, their aqueducts carry water into EOH reservoirs, most notably the Kensico and the West Branch, which are considered part of the Cat/Del System.
Croton reservoirs, located EOH in northern Westchester and adjacent Putnam County, normally supply 10 percent of New York City's needs, and up to 30% in times of drought.
The three systems provide approximately 9 million people, over half of New York State, with an abundance of clean, safe and still unfiltered water. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Why is the Croton System to be Chemically Treated/Filtered? |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 Back in 1992, when the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) could still have applied for filtration avoidance for the Croton, it failed to do so, not because the water was below standard (it wasn't), but because the DEP, in its own words, lacked "the political will" to protect its Croton watershed. However, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which had primacy over the Croton at that time, never confirmed that the Croton actually did require chemical treatment/filtration.
Subsequent compromises that led to the landmark 1997 Watershed Agreement, allowed DEP to institute a long-range program to protect its huge, still unfiltered Catskill/Delaware system and avoid having to build an $8 billion chemical treatment/filtration plant. But the sacrificial lamb was the much smaller Croton System that, at the insistence of the development community, was slated to be filtered--even though Croton reservoirs supplied and continue to supply drinking water that fulfills all state and federal health standards.
As a result of DEP's failure to apply for filtration avoidance, it is now under a Consent Decree by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the NYS Department of Health (DOH) to filter its Croton System by 2011 at the latest.
Neglecting protection in favor of chemical treatment/filtration will adversely affect the future, not only of the Croton, but also of the whole New York City water supply. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Chemical Treatment/Filtration Means Less Watershed Protection |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proclaims that both watershed protection and chemical treatment/filtration are needed, and that we can have both.
Although this "multi-barrier" approach may sound reasonable, in reality, once chemical treatment/filtration is in place or even planned, the incentive to protect the watershed and its reservoirs will be weakened.
Proof is provided by DEP's, and various state agencies' lackadaisical approach to Croton watershed protection. It has allowed monstrous shopping malls to multiply like weeds in the watershed, which threaten to ruin the quality of life for local residents as well as some of the most beautiful viewsheds in the Hudson Highlands.
And why are developers so supportive of chemical treatment/filtration? |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Protecting the Croton System Will Help Protect the Cat/Del System |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 Protecting the Croton watershed and its reservoirs will have the added benefit of helping avoid chemical treatment/filtration for the Cat/Del system. Although not generally recognized, the WOH Delaware aqueduct will have to be closed, at some future time, for overdue repairs. The Croton System will then be called upon to replace about 300 mgd (million gallons per day) of Delaware water that normally flows into the Kensico.
Unless Croton reservoirs are adequately protected, their waters will introduce pollution and contaminants into the Kensico, placing in jeopardy the possibility of avoiding an $8 billion chemical treatment/filtration plant for the Cat/Del system. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Watershed Residents Are Opposing the Development Boom |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 Fortunately, citizen involvement and resistance are growing apace. People are fed up with their wells running dry or being polluted; with increased traffic; with worsening air pollution; with over-crowded schools; with fast-disappearing open vistas, and open space. Many towns are revising their long-dormant master plans to incorporate protection of the remaining open spaces and to institute up-zoning. Other towns, having received overwhelmingly favorable responses in polls, are considering referendums to include new taxes to acquire open space. CWCWC actively supports these efforts on behalf of the watershed residents and has testified at many public hearings in opposition to harmful developments in the watershed.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Croton Waters Continue to Fulfill All State and Federal Health Standards |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 As already mentioned, Croton water continues to maintain high standards and fulfill all state and federal health criteria.
In its recent analysis of the progress of DEP's efforts to avoid filtration for the Cat/Del, a sub-committee of the National Research Council placed the microbial pathogens, Giardia and Cryptosporidium, at the top of its list of concerns. Both of these can cause severe intestinal disruptions that may prove fatal in people with compromised immune systems, in the elderly and the very young. Back in 1993, Cryptosporidium that found its way into Milwaukee's filtration system, caused the deaths of one hundred people and sickened another 400,000.
In this respect, Croton waters equal or surpass Cat/Del (not to mention a majority of filtered systems in the nation).
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| The Croton Can Still be Protected, not Chemically Treated/Filtered |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
There are several possible actions that could significantly improve Croton water quality. These are described in CWCWC's Management Plan for the Croton Watershed.
The following is a bare outline of some of the recommendations in the Plan:
- A recent study headed by John Keane, Conservation Chair of the Lower Hudson Chapter of Trout Unlimited, has identified over 200 sites in the Croton watershed where severe road runoff has carried vast amounts of sediments, often toxic, into the reservoir tributaries and the reservoirs themselves. Full remediation of these sites by the responsible government agencies, will go a long way towards achieving cleaner water.
- DEP's final upgrades, to tertiary level, of all sewage treatment plants in the watershed, will also help significantly in improving water quality.
- Most important, the change in attitude of so many watershed residents towards protecting natural resources, particularly wetlands, will play a major role in ensuring that future development is done with the utmost concern for protecting the watershed.
- DEP should alocate $200 million to buy land in the watershed.
- Increase buffers around streams and wetlands to 150 feet.
Protection, rather than the DEP’s proposed chemical treatment/filtration of the Croton will lead to a sustainable future for the watershed. It will also mean that a minority community in the Bronx will not be deprived of much-needed parkland. Finally, it will ensure a safe, clean and affordable water supply for over half of New York State.
CWCWC stands by its original premise that the best way to ensure clean, healthy water is to protect the source water from contamination. No technology available today can restore degraded water to its original, pristine state. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
