Reservoir is now a health issue…

Last week, the NYC Health Department issued a press release that stated Two New Yorkers have been infected with the West Nile Virus. You can read it here:

Two New Yorkers Test Positive for West Nile

What does this have to do with the Reservoir you ask?

Simple, for the last several months the DEP has kept the reservoir empty on both sides of the wall. The north side is empty and pretty much dry, however the south side is empty but with large standing pools of water that have now turned green and mossy.

So why is this a health issue? Again, simple, standing water attracts mosquitoes and with them come disease. The Health Departments own statement says:

“Take Simple Steps to Avoid Mosquitoes

* Eliminate any standing water from your property, and dispose of containers that can collect water.
Make sure roof gutters are clean and draining properly. Standing water is a violation of the health code. ”

So is DEP getting a violation? This is a serious situation that needs immediate addressing. Millions of mosquitoes could be breeding as I am typing this, do you want to be the next infected person?

I am asking everyone to call 311 and report the standing water in the south side of the reservoir. Please ask for a complaint number and if you can send it to us via our Contact us.

Philip McDonnell
FIPNA

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THESE ARE PDF FILES AND ARE VERY BIG, SO BE PATIENT.

FINDINGS

JEROME PARK RESERVOIR SECTION

RESPONSE TO COMMENTS ON THE DSEIS

FULL FSEIS ONLINE

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(1) no surface drilling or blasting
(2) hoe ram drilling
(3) blasting

Click below to view in flash. Use the mouse to click to the animated photo’s; the pages will advance but you need to use the mouse click to go through the presentation. FULL SCREEN IS THE LAST RIGHT BUTTON.

(Please click the image to advance the slides)

If you do not have flash, you can download the Acrobat (pdf) version by clicking here:
no-blasting-or-drilling-081808

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This is the exact presentation given to the Facilities Monitoring Committee five days before the presentation at Amalgamated. Clearly you can see the DEP making the case between two types of methods, but not the one they have permission to use. The EIS is clear: no surface drilling (and that includes hoe rams) or blasting.

Click below to view in flash. Use the mouse to click to the animated photo’s; the pages will advance but you need to use the mouse click to go through the presentation. FULL SCREEN IS THE LAST RIGHT BUTTON.

(Please click the image to advance the slides)

If you do not have flash, you can download the Acrobat (pdf) version by clicking here:
cro-312os_6-13-08_fmc1

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The Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association already has the story, so check it out.

http://www.fipna.org/2008/08/12/blasting-causes-rats/

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It is truly amazing that the City has no idea what they are doing. See the note from the City’s attorney:

. . . . “DEP is currently in the process of finalizing its environmental review of proposed project changes, including the possibility of shifting from hoe ramming to blasting for rock excavation at the Jerome Park Reservoir site, and will not make any final decision regarding the use of blasting until that review is completed,” said Susan Amron, deputy chief of the environmental law division of the city’s law department, in a statement. (Riverdale Press, July 31, 2008 online)

Where in the world did hoe raming come from? They forgot to mention the originally approved section of the FSEIS. See below:

. . . . . From Section 8.2.1.7.

“The construction of the New Shaft at this location would be done using
the raised bored construction method. This method involves drilling of a
pilot hole from the surface. A boring drill rig would be assembled at
the bottom of the shaft where the tunnel would terminate, and turned by
a machine at the top. The boring spoils would fall into the tunnel, and
would be removed as the drill is raised from the bottom of the shaft.
Using the new tunnel for access, all the debris would collapse into the
new tunnel and would be removed at the water treatment plant site for
either the Mosholu or the Harlem River Site alternatives. For the
Eastview Site, the material would be removed through the NCA from shafts
upstream of the Reservoir. This method would reduce the impact caused
by construction in the area.

The drilling of the New Shaft via raised bore construction would take
place in the first summer of the scheduled construction period. The new
tunnel lining would be installed before the New Shaft Chamber
construction commences. In response to public comment, construction of
the New Shaft Chamber would occur during the school year with the
concrete pours taking place during the summer months, Saturdays, or
holidays to avoid disturbance of the nearby schools while they are in
session. The construction of the New Shaft Chamber would be
simultaneous with setting the piping in the New Tunnel from either the
water treatment plant or the NCA, depending on the site selection, to
the New Shaft Chamber.

Finally, remember the singlemost important line:

“There would be no surface drilling or blasting in relation to work at the Reservoir.”

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BCEQ Papers:

• Affirmation affirmationinsupport073008

• Order to Show Cause: the TKO osc-blasting-index-26028708

Other documents of interest:

• Letter from BP: bxbpcarrionletter_depblasting811081

• Page that says no blasting: 8-02jeromepark_unlocked-no-blasting

The City’s response: markpageaffopposing073008

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See above the Section 8.2 page 184 which shows the promise made to the people in the EIS. Now they don’t want to keep the promise, so they are making up stories. It may not seem difficult to understand, but the DEP is having a hard time trying to figure out what to do.

On Wednesday, July 30, 2008, attorney and Bronx resident Ezra B. Glaser appeared before Justice Betty Owen Stinson seeking an Order to Show Cause (OSC) for a temporary restraining order against the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)’s proposal to blast in and around the Jerome Park Reservoir. The DEP and the City showed up to argue against the OSC. The Judge granted the TRO on the blasting issue.

“Our arguments were compelling,” stated Mr. Glaser, “The community groups would be harmed greater in the balance of equity then the DEP”. When the City claimed that “we’re not starting blasting August 1^st” Justice Stinson replied, “Guess then you would not be harmed.” The FSEIS stated on page 184 of Section 8.2, submitted as one of the Exhibits: “There would be no surface drilling or blasting in relation to work at the Reservoir.”

Various borough wide and local groups and persons joined in: the bronx council for environmental quality (BCEQ) and IRA charles levenberg, both individually and in his official capacity as BCEQ President, the FORT INDEPENDENCE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION and PHILIP MCDONNELL, both individually and in his official capacity as President of the FORT INDEPENDENCE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, ASSEMBLY Member jeffrey dinowitz, both individually and in his official capacity, council member G. oliver koppell, both individually and in his official capacity, MARIO BENITEZ, ANTHONY PEREZ CASSINO, FRANCIS A. CHAPMAN, MICHAEL GARY, FATHER RICHARD GORMAN, SONIA LAPPIN, DAMIAN MCSHANE, MORRIS PALEVSKY, SAUL SCHEINBACH, LYNN SCHWARZ, and CAROLYN SMITH.

THE BRONX COUNCIL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (BCEQ), et. al v.THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (DEP), et. al, (Index # 260287 of 2008) will be heard on September 3, 2008.

This is a hoe ram, which is noisy but it is NOT allowed:

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Watch eight trucks meander through a few streets in just eight minutes.

Click below to view in flash. Use the mouse to click to the animated photo’s; the pages will advance but you need to use the mouse click to go through the presentation.  FULL SCREEN IS THE LAST RIGHT BUTTON.

(Please click the image to advance the slides)

If you do not have flash, you can download the Acrobat (pdf) version by clicking here.

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Cliick here for a copy of the June 2008 Newsletter: stockade-06-2008

If that does not work, then right click (on a pc) and choose SAVE AS to save it to your computer and then you can read the 16 page newsletter at your leisure.

I know, I know. What does this have to do with water? Well, there is the green roof on top of St. Simon Stock, so I got to thinking of a beautiful note we received after the roof started to become a reality:

Congratulations on seeing all your years of work come to fruition in the sliver of native plantings and soil on the skyline. . . . . I did a bit of research on Saint Simon Stock. I was struck by some lovely poetic-ecological significances in the bit of restoration ecology you have initiated on the convent, and thought I’d share.

Simon was born in Kent,;England in the early 13th century. When he was twelve years old went to live as a hermit in the hollow trunk of a tree - hence the “stock.” After twenty years of prayer in the trunk of that tree, he joined up with an order of monks theretofore unknown in England. Monks of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.had returned from the Holy Land with the knights of the Crusades. Carmel lies between Galilee and Samaria, and is derived from the Hebrew Karmel, meaning “orchard,” “garden,” or “vine of God.” In the 12th Century, monks took up residence in dedicating their lives to the Virgin Mary. The Virgin, as Chyrysippus of Jeruslam wrote in the 5th century, was regarded as a “cloud of rain that offers drink to the soul….” St. Simon spent the rest of his life establishing Carmelite monasteries around Europe, venerating their blessed “little cloud of rain.”

I can’t help but think that, no matter one’s religious persuasion, there’s some good karma in restoring a bit of earth to Saint Simon’s roof (probably one that’s a bit more watertight than the hollow tree). And let’s hope that the good will and metaphor extend enough to allow a few little clouds of rain to find the roof this fall and give those goldenrod and horse-mint a drink before the winter months.

Forgive a young poet his musings on your roof meadow - I can’t wait to chat further about the good pragmatism of capillaries and stormwater runoff computer models.

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