.………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/

• 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

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

Deisgn_Comm_re_Parking_MGH_101309

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz

3107 Kingsbridge Avenue, Bronx, New York 10463 ● (718) 796-5345

November 1, 2009

The meeting that the five community members of the Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee (CFMC) held in the Amalgamated House’s Vladeck Hall on Thursday, October 29 illustrated conclusively that the water filtration plant boondoggle that is costing taxpayers unnecessary billions and is being grossly mismanaged by a secretive NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is one of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s worst failures.

At the meeting, Deputy Comptroller John Graham explained that the recently released audits by Comptroller Bill Thompson found that the DEP could not account for the astronomical rise in costs as compared with their original budgeting for the project.  Many who attended spoke emphatically that the comptroller’s findings definitively support their long-held claim that the DEP cooked the books in order to see to it that the plant was built in Van Cortlandt Park and to create a lucrative bonanza for contractors and engineers while sticking everyday New Yorkers with an outrageous bill.

Specifically, the comptroller reported that the DEP failed to account for a cost escalation rate above those substantiated by industry indexes such as the Engineering News-Record Construction index of 5.04%, or the Handy-Whitman Index of Public Utility Construction of 5.73%, or the Prevailing Wage Rates of 4.7%.

I agree with the Comptroller:  “(The DEP’s) Underlying estimate was unreliable and lacked sufficient documentation to substantiate its accuracy and completeness.”  The still unanswered question of why they did it and who benefited from it was also raised at the meeting, but not surprisingly, though DEP and contractor representatives were present, they did not participate in the discussion.  What is clear is that we all need to continue our due diligence until the truth is definitively known.

Though not an official CFMC meeting, the gathering was a clear statement to Mayor Bloomberg’s DEP that a majority of the seven-member committee is fed up over the unexplained costs, debilitating and expensive construction delays, and ongoing DEP stonewalling and lack of transparency as indicated in the comptroller’s audit.   It was made clear that at the next CFMC meeting, scheduled for Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the DEP office at 3660 Jerome Avenue, the comptroller’s report is going to be on the agenda and Mayor Bloomberg’s DEP is going to have to attempt to justify their actions and also change the opaque processes which contribute to the scandal on a daily basis.

Since its establishment by the City Council in 2004, the committee charged with monitoring this project was manipulated by the DEP, thereby hampering its work.  However, in 2007 after my office reported that the DEP’s explanation rate for the cost escalation was not correct and that DEP’s stated justifications were invalid smoke screens, the committee finally stood up to then-Commissioner Emily Lloyd, and voted to ask for the audit.  In a pathetic and obvious attempt to avoid inquiry, though the report was issued almost two months ago, the DEP has balked at scheduling meetings of the CFMC until after the mayoral election.

But Thursday’s history-making meeting proves that no matter how much the Mayor controls the Manhattan media, the people of the Bronx must continue to stand strong in the pursuit of truthful information from City Hall and diligence over the administration’s ongoing attempt to hide from scrutiny.

I applaud the work of the community members of the Croton Facilities Monitoring Committee, and look forward to its next meeting on Thursday, November 5 so we can hear what the DEP has to say.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, 81^st AD

http://www.bceq.org/2009/07/31/harlem-river-working-group-nps-application-filed/

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.

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