This scoping session was held in the rain on March 22, 2007. Guess we are never going to get any one from the NYC DEP to help us with public access and/or maintenance.
What happened to all the promises? Can we walk inside the fence? Will we ever have the Outdoor Urban Ecology Lab, aka the OUEL?
This starts with Anne Marie telling the NYC DEP Facilities Monitoring Committee on April 17, 2008 about a letter from the DEP Commissioner to Amalgamated explaining the security reasons for not allowing people to walk inside the fence. We will find that the reasons were not true. The walking tour of Jerome Park Reservoir on April 18, 2008 to check for security and quality of life issues. It was a bright sunny day so I decided to go for a walk.
Facilities Monitoring Committee 6/19 agenda:
Jerome Park Reservoir public access question, JPR Construction, Night Blasting at VCP
1. On May 30, 2008, I received a call from Martha Holstein (consultant to the DEP CWTP) that the DEP that they will not be discussing the public access to JPR at the next meeting. DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd told the DEP officials Lawitts and Canty that they she is going to set up a “working group” to do a study of why the agency would say they are against public access without looking into it. The results will not be quick, but would take 7 to 9 months. There will be no community partners, no outside entities, no agencies and no community representatives. They will try to clarify and understand why it is not possible to have public access at Jerome Park Reservoir.
The FMC members agreed by phone on May 29th to remove this item from the agenda. Instead, the DEP will provide periodic reports to the FMC and will discuss the process for public participation. They will make this presentation at the meeting in June.
This is another stalling tactic. This is similar to the ploy in the Alienation Legislation to give due consideration to making Jerome Park into a park. When they did that internal study, the three former DEP Deputy Commissioners agreed that Jerome Park Reservoir could not be a park for many reasons, including security.
Last March the DEP and the FMC agreed that the DEP was going to present their case, and Anne Marie and Karen were going to rebut. We have spent hours working together on this, taking photographs, gathering information, planning on the power point presentation It is not clear yet, but I think we are off the agenda.
2. To replace the agenda item, the DEP is now proposing to add new topic. It is about time they thought of adding the tunneling and new meter chamber construction work at Jerome Park Reservoir. It is a new contract (although the work is started).
3. Finally, last week the FMC was notified about a two week potential (on or after May 23) for night blasting for the Raw Water Tunnel to the Filter Plant. The blasting will be 170 feet beneath Mosholu Golf Course, approximately 1800 feet west of Jerome Avenue.
This is a heads up. As the time goes on, there will be more info.
/Karen
Last week, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection presented its 2007 Annual Water Quality Report. This report was prepared in accordance with Part 5-1.72 of the New York State Sanitary Code (10NYCRR), and the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, 40 CFR Part 141 Subpart O, of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which require all drinking water suppliers to provide the public with an annual statement describing the water supply and the quality of its water.
The 20 page report opens as a pdf and is here: 2007 Water Quality Report (PDF)
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/drinking_water/wsstate.shtml
Click on the link above to read the previous years REPORTS and/or return to our page for a chance to comment.
MONTANA DAM IS BREACHED, SLOWLY, TO RESTORE A SUPERFUND SITE
By JIM ROBBINS, New York Times, Science, May 27, 2008 — MILLTOWN, Mont. — Milltown Dam, a symbol of industrial progress that became a symbol of destruction, was recently breached, and two parts of the Clark Fork River were joined again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/science/27dam.html
Click on the link above to continue to read the article and/or return to our page for a chance to comment.
Watch BronxTalk on Cablevision Channel 67
Live on Monday May 18, 2007 (call in number 718-960-7150)
GREG LOBO JOST - University Neighborhood Housing Program
HAROLD SHULTZ - Sr. Fellow, Citizen Housing and Planning Council
BronxTalk is aired live on Bronxnet’s channel 67 tonight at 9.
Repeated each day through the week at 9:30am, 3:30pm, and 9pm
BronxTalk is The Bronx’ flagship talk show and has been hosted by Gary Axelbank and produced by Jane Folloro for nearly 14 years.
Here are the replay times… channel 67
Tuesdays at 3:30 am, 3:30 pm, 9:00 pm
Wednesdays at 4:30 am, 7:00 am, 9:30 am, 3:30 pm, 5:00 pm, 9:00 pm
Thursdays at 4:30 am, 3:30 pm, 9:00 pm
Fridays at 1:30 am, 4:30 am, 7:00 am, 9:30 am, 3:30 pm, 9:00 pm
Saturdays at 1:30 am, 3:30 am, 11:30 am, 3:30 pm, 10:00 pm, 11:30 pm
Sundays at 11:30 am
Mondays at 4:30 am, 9:30 am, 3:30 pm
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NYC Water Board Approves Major Rate Hike
POSTED: 10:28 am EDT May 16, 2008
UPDATED: 10:33 am EDT May 16, 2008
NEW YORK — The city water board has approved a 14.5 percent rate hike — the second double digit increase in the last year.
The move came during a board meeting Friday morning.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/16292538/detail.html
Click on the link above to continue to read the article, then return to our page to comment.
Agency Oversight
CDWC Issue DEP Report Card, May 15, 2008
On May 15, the Clean Drinking Water Coalition (CDWC) — The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, NYPIRG and Riverkeeper — announced the release of their first annual DEP Report Card: “Making the Grade: New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s Drinking Water Protection Programs.” The DEP Report Card grades, analyzes, and provides recommendations for thirty-three DEP watershed programs which protect New York City’s drinking water.
http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/watershed/we_are_doing/1544-dep-report-card
Click on the link above to continue to read the article and report on the Riverkeeper Home Page, then return to our page to comment.
City’s Drinking Water Gets Good Grades in New Report
From the time they are children squirming in diner benches with their parents, New Yorkers are told to drink their water because it is the best anywhere. A report issued today by a number of environmental organizations that make up the Clean Drinking Water Coalition pretty much confirms that impression — at least in terms of purity, cleanliness and safety.
Click on the link above to continue to read the article and comment to the NYT blog, and/or return to our page for more chances to comment.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/
citys-drinking-water-gets-good-grades-in-new-report/?scp=1&sq=&st=cse
LOS ANGELES — Faced with a persistent drought and the threat of tighter water supplies, Los Angeles plans to begin using heavily cleansed sewage to increase drinking water supplies, joining a growing number of cities considering similar measures.