June 4, 2003

Bronx Council for Environmental Quality
Environmental Advocates of New York
Friends of Van Cortlandt Park
New York City Waterfront Coalition
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
Norwood Community Action Sierra Club - Atlantic Chapter

Community and Environmental Groups Call on Legislature to Complete Proper Environmental Studies

(Albany, NY) – A coalition of community and environmental groups concerned about New York City’s efforts to use Bronx parkland for a water filtration plant today called on the state Legislature to hold off on passing “alienation” legislation until proper environmental studies are complete. Under New York law, the state Legislature must approve all plans to remove, or alienate, parkland from public use. New York City has failed to complete the reviews necessary under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) yet is asking the Legislature to allow more than 40 acres of Van Cortlandt Park to be used as the site of a water filtration plant.

“New York City’s attempt to get legislative approval of park alienation for the filtration plant before it completes the EIS process, or complies with New York City’s own park alienation procedures, is an attempt to thwart existing law,” said Elizabeth Cooke, president of Friends of Van Cortlandt Park. Referring to city Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Chris Ward and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Cooke charged the two are “using the construction unions’ political forces as a battering ram to circumvent applicable laws and procedures.”

“Environmental laws exist for a time-tested purpose and should not be compromised under time pressure deadlines or due to political expediency,” said Jeff Jones, communications director of Environmental Advocates of New York. Noting that the city has had more than a decade to study various alternative filtration sites, Jones called on state lawmakers to wait until all the information is available before making their decision. A home-rule message from the New York City Council asking for the alienation of land in Van Cortlandt Park is expected to reach Albany within the next few days. Votes in the Senate and Assembly could come as early as next week.

Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx is New York City’s third largest park. Although surrounded on three sides by urbanization, it retains several natural corridors that include streams, ponds and marshes, as well as a 158-acre forest. It has a popular municipal golf course – the only one in the country that can be reached by subway – and acres and acres of playing fields for sports like soccer, cricket, baseball and running. Over 150 species of birds have been recorded in the park, earning it state designation as an Important Bird Area. The proposed new water filtration plant would require more than 40 acres of the park for construction. It would be designed to treat the 10 percent of New York City’s drinking water that comes from the East-of-Hudson Croton Watershed. Alternative sites have been proposed, including one along the Harlem River and another at Eastview in Westchester County.

“The environmental community is united in support of the need for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to complete the EIS process before the Legislature considers the legislation to alienate parkland,” said Paul Elston, president of the New York City Waterfront Coalition. “We do not know the costs of three alternative projects. We do not know the environmental and social impacts of the alternatives. The city has released a draft EIS on the Eastview site and the Harlem River site. They need to complete the work on those two sites and complete a supplemental EIS for the new project proposed for Van Cortlandt Park, and compare the three alternatives in the public process required by the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The Legislature should not act on the legislation until it has the full record created by the EIS process.”

“The New York City Department of Environmental Protection apparently believes they can get away with doing a slipshod environmental review,” said John Stouffer, legislative director, Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “The only environmental review on the proposal to site the facility in Van Cortlandt Park was released by DEP in 1998. It did not disclose the full impact of building and operating the facility and is based on an earlier design rather than the plant they now propose to build. We call on the Legislature to force the city to comply with the spirit of the law. New York City must fully review all of the environmental impacts of building and operating this facility in the park and at alternative sites. In addition, the city is doing far less than the minimum required to protect the Croton watershed. In order to ensure that Croton water continues to be of the highest quality we call on the Legislature to mandate that the city undertake a strong and effective program to protect the Croton watershed and that the city study and evaluate alternatives to filtration.”