Also see the presentation in this pdf - Water

For more information on the issues – The story of the Croton

.………the DEP does it again!  Read the story from the NY Times today!  See EPA web page below …..

A yearlong investigation of the Gowanus Canal in preparation for its cleanup under the federal Superfund program has confirmed the severe extent of its contamination and the threat it poses to public health, particularly for people who eat fish from the canal or have repeated contact with its water or sediment.

FULL STORY  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/science/earth/03gowanus.html?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/nyregion/index.jsonp

And here is the full report from the EPA including fact sheets and public meetings. http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/gowanus/

Water, Soil, & The Spirit of Place

index

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And for all you who do not have flash (apple people), here it is in pdf form:

LafayGreenCBxRSSB4_12_04

MO_WQS_decision_letter102909

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/sewage-overflow-in-new-york-believe-it/?src=twt&twt=nytimesscience

• Watershed and Sewershed Maps and things of interest

1. Water Power Point in PDF  Water
2. Story of the Croton in PDF The story of the Croton

• Reviewed four chapters in William J. Byron, The Power of Principles:  Ethics for the New Corporate Cutlure, Orbis Books, 2006.  Excellent Book that describes ten classic principles.

• Show one hour movie:
  • “Dirt! the Movie”  - http://www.dirtthemovie.org/
  • “Gasland” – http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/about-the-film/
• YouTube of the Gowanus Canal after a rainstorm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzWOOqPAEgs&feature=player_embedded

Check out this excerpt:

“…………………..One of the most prevalent and fasted growing challenges is dealing with storm water runoff which carries chemicals and other debris into local waters and can damage whole stream ecosystems. Right now the conventional regulatory fixes for storm water are to store it and to treat it just like it’s wastewater, which can be very costly to cities and towns on a budget. Milwaukee has been through these costly challenges recently with the wet weather and storms that have passed through lately,” Jackson says.

Jackson says if money were not an issue, separate sanitary and stormwater systems could be a fix, but says it’s a remedy most communities can’t afford.

The administrator says it’s going to take collaborative innovation to solve the problem. Jackson pledged to weave green infrastructure policy into EPA regulations.

“Ways to use our regulatory and policy making heft, if you will, to encourage the kind of things that are already happening in places like Milwaukee,” Jackson says.

She’s talking about incorporating rain gardens, green roofs and other measures that capture and filter rain water naturally. Jackson calls it working with nature, rather than against it.

She sees green infrastructure as a tool to help clean up old contaminated sites. Jackson says her agency will back up the green talk, with money.

“Funding for states and territories and tribes to mitigate nonpoint source pollution through green infrastructure,” Jackson says.

She calls this a new era of clean water protection.

Read the whole article or listen to it:

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=6641#share

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Soccer woes

Soggy fields at the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds may have contributed to the ongoing sod and grass problems that have rendered the fields unusable this kiddie soccer season, according to representatives of the New York City Parks Department, at a Jan. 27 meeting for CB 8’s Parks and Recreation Committee.

“It’s not an exact science,” said Margot Perron, president of the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy. “We don’t always know when something’s going to finish. Stuff happens.”

And one of the things that happened in the case of the Parade Ground was extra water inundating the growing grass, potentially overwhelming it during a fragile time.

“We have a wet situation,” said Steve Des- Noyer, design supervisor for Croton projects at the Parks Dept., adding that it might have been caused by water main breaks or more rain than anticipated.

The next step, Mr. DesNoyer said, will be test pits on the land in question. If groundwater is found, he said, the Parks Department will check for chlorine to see if city water is getting in.

“If that doesn’t get corrected it would have to be cordoned off,” he said. The over-watering was not anticipated, he said, adding that extra drainage would take care of the problem. All corrective work will probably have to wait until the spring, he said, though heavy rains could postpone that date again.

Still, it’s not just the extra water keeping the fields from being ready to use. The grass knitting is different from establishing the sod as ready-touse, Mr. DesNoyer said.

“It’s not just the knitting process, which can be done in four weeks,” he said. “We like to see things going through a full growing season.”

Since the new grass was planted last year, the full growing season would extend through the end of the spring, after soccer season is already over.

Letting the field grow healthily is important, agreed Traffic and Transportation chair Tony Cassino, who attended the Parks meeting, adding that it does not make it the best option for the Parade Ground fields.

“There’s a balance of wanting to preserve a gem we have right now … and, on the other hand, [are] all the leagues and teams who want to use the fields,” Mr. Cassino said.

The leagues that will be affected are the traveling teams and girls’ teams, said Bruce Silverman, president of the Riverdale Soccer Club.

Some teams will have shortened seasons and others will play on fields borrowed from neighborhood schools like the Riverdale Country School, Mr. Silverman said, adding that more than 200 girls between first and ninth grades might still have their season cancelled if they can’t find adequate field space.

“We still have to see what our options are,” he said.

This is part of the February 4, 2010 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

http://www.riverdalepress.com/full.php?sid=11362&current_edition=2010-02-04

Minds in the Gutter, a project of the Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) Coalition, is currently accepting submissions for innovative design solutions that manage runoff from roadways within the public right of way (that’s public space, streets and sidewalks). Submissions must be received before 5pm on February 15, 2010. Details for submitting your project can be found online at  www.mindsinthegutter.org.

Kate Zidar of SWIM asks, “How can we utilize the existing 6K miles of roadway and accompanying 12K miles of sidewalk as an opportunity for stormwater management in NYC?”

Submissions will be reviewed by an esteemed panel of judges from city and state agencies as well as academia and the private sector. The results will be exhibited in April 2010 and will be included in a resource guide for print and online distribution. Above all, through this process we hope to create a collaborative of bright minds in the gutter.

The next Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee (CFMC) meeting will be held on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 7 PM in the DEP’s Contractor’s community office on 3660 Jerome Avenue, Bronx NY 10467 (across from the CWTP between 213th and Bainbridge)

1. Welcome, Call Meeting to Order
2. Consider, Adopt Minutes of    CFMC 4-30 (as revised) and 6-18 Meetings
3. DEP Report on Jobs & Hiring
4. Parks Dept Report on Jobs & Hiring
5. Status Report – Jerome Park Reservoir Public  Access Study
6. Croton Construction Update
7. Discussion, Set Next Meeting CFMC Principals

Topics should include questions concerning the below listed documents:

1.  Comptroller’s Audits

• DEP’s Oversight of Costs to Construct the CWTP, FR09-110A, 9/1/2009 – http://bit.ly/AI5Pr
• DEP’s Progress in Constructing the CWTP, FR08-121A, 9/1/2009 – http://bit.ly/1a4a3E

Community response  WaterBlogged.org » From Guest Pens: Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz – Croton is one of the Mayor’s worst failures http://bit.ly/3Xawfi

2.  Public comments in June and DEP response in September

June Public written:  Why_to_the_DEP_June_2009 (verbal comments in minutes we have not seen yet)

CRO-313-312OS Minor Mod RTC 07-24-09 v2

CRO_Design Commission Response_090728_FINAL

PDC Response 2 – Friend of VCP

3. Community’s response to the Design Commission

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