By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE of The Kingston Daily Freeman
KINGSTON - Ulster County Executive Michael Hein on Tuesday said he’ll decide within days whether to sue the state to put an end to New York City’s releases of turbid water from its Ashokan Reservoir into the lower Esopus Creek.
Hein said the county is reviewing the extent of damage along the creek from the release of up to 580 million gallons per day before making a decision about whether to proceed with a lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
“We are weighing that option as we speak,” he said. “I expect to make that decision sometime this week.” Hein is concerned whether the releases by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which have been ongoing for 104 days, are causing sediment to reach the Hudson River and impact water systems downstream.
The lower Esopus Creek flows into the Hudson at Saugerties.
“The most frustrating thing that I’ve seen yet is that. in addition to harming our farms, in addition to closing our public beaches, the fact that the turbidity level at the drinking water intake for the town of Esopus is at levels unprecedented over the course of the last 100 days because of New York City’s DEP actions,” Hein said.
John Lipscomb, a water quality sampling monitor with the environmental group Riverkeeper, said it is unlikely that sediment has traveled the 12.8-mile distance from the Esopus Creek outlet in Saugerties to the Esopus water treatment plant at Port Ewen.
Read more…
Visit The Kingston Daily Freeman
Related posts: