Comments Accepted Until July 8

Public meetings will be held on May 12 and May 14 to allow people to comment on the draft scope for the Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to be prepared for methods to control turbidity in the portion of the New York City Watershed known as the Catskill Water Supply System and for the evaluation of potential impacts to both the Ashokan Reservoir, lower Esopus Creek and Kensico Reservoir. 

• May 12 at the Ulster County Community College, Student Lounge, Cottekill Road in Stone Ridge;  two sessions: 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. 

• May 14 at the Mt. Pleasant Town Hall, 1 Town Hall Plaza in Valhalla; two sessions:  3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Prior to accepting comments at the meeting, staff from DEC and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) will be available to speak with the public one-on-one.  These availability sessions will run from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

People who cannot attend the meetings, but want to submit comments on the draft scope can send written comments by fax (518) 402-9168; email (Ashokan@gw.dec.state.ny.us); or regular mail.  Hard copies can be sent to: Stephen Tomasik, NYS DEC, Division of Environmental Permits, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-1750.

Comments  must be received by close of business on July 8, 2014.

The purpose of the scope essentially is to outline what environmental factors must be included in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), the document that will eventually guide the review of the proposed methods. 

The scoping process has six objectives, including to:

• focus the DEIS on the potentially significant adverse environmental impacts;
• identify the extent and quality of information needed;
• identify the range of reasonable alternatives to be discussed;
• provide an initial identification of mitigation measures;
• provide the public with an opportunity to participate in the identification of impacts; and
• eliminate non-significant and non-relevant issues. 

DEC is seeking comments that relate directly to the draft scope or items that may have been omitted from the draft scoping documents. DEC is lead agency in the environmental review and has determined that the proposed modification to incorporate measures to control turbidity in water diverted from Ashokan Reservoir and to postpone dredging of alum floc at Kensico Reservoir until completion of certain infrastructure projects may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) must be prepared.

The draft DEIS scope is available at the DEC’s website: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/79771.html.  It is also available for review locally at the following locations: 

• NYS DEC Central Office, Stephen Tomasik, Project Manager, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, New York 12233-1750
• NYS DEC - Region 3 Office, Daniel Whitehead, Regional Permit Administrator, 21 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, New York 12561 
• NYSDEC - Region 3 White Plains Sub-Office, Shohreh Karimipour, Regional Water Engineer, 100 Hillside Avenue, Suite 1W, White Plains, New York 10603-2860
• NYC DEP - Kingston Office, Ira Stern, 71 Smith Ave, Kingston, New York 12410 
• NYC DEP - Valhalla Office, David Warne, 465 Columbus Avenue, Valhalla, New York 10595 
• NYC DEP - Lefrak Office, Sangamithra Iyer, 59-17 Junction Boulevard, 11th Floor, Flushing, New York 11373 
• Town of Saugerties Town Hall, 4 High Street, Saugerties, New York 12477