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 For more information, please contact: Monica Quigley mquigley@madisonlanding.com LeylandAlliance LLC Tel: 845-351-2900 Fax: 845-351-2922 16 Sterling Lake Road Tuxedo, NY 10987 Click Here to be added to our mailing list |
DEP Hearing Summary
OverviewOn June 1st, we concluded the DEP hearing on our permit application for Madison Landing's wastewater treatment system. We are now awaiting a decision, which we hope to receive in the fall. We were very pleased to have the facts of this matter thoroughly reviewed before the DEP Hearing Officer. Among other things, this hearing showed the enormous gulf that exists between SGOD’s doomsday rhetoric ("Madison Landing will destroy the marsh!"), and the facts – even the facts as presented by SGOD's own consultants. It is very important for our supporters and all of Madison to know that at the DEP hearing not one of SGOD's own experts - even their paid experts - predicted anything even remotely resembling the SGOD doomsday rhetoric. Beginning of the Hearing – GE Zenon is State-of-the-Art After the opening of the DEP hearing in Madison on the evening of April 11th, the hearing resumed in Hartford, where there were eight full days of sworn testimony concluding on June 1st. The hearing in Hartford began with important testimony from Miles Sherman of GE Zenon and John Whitcomb of BL Companies. Mr. Sherman established that GE Zenon is a wastewater treatment industry leader with hundreds of facilities operating successfully around the world. Mr. Whitcomb carefully explained how the system works and reviewed the extensive built-in redundancy within the system, as well as the many "alarms" that will alert the operator if anything is not functioning properly. Warren Herzig of the DEP testified that in order to strengthen DEP oversight of on-site advanced treatment systems, DEP is adding two new staff positions whose job it will be to review the monthly operating reports and make sure owners and operators are running the systems properly. It was noted that groundwater tests at GE Zenon locations have never shown any problem with groundwater quality – these systems do a great job of protecting the waters of the state. Conventional septic systems and outdated municipal systems are the chief cause of the problems we see in Long Island Sound – not state-of-the-art wastewater treatment systems like Zenon. Hydrology 101 - SGOD Contentions Rejected Much of the testimony at the hearing was focused on the technical issues pertaining to the hydrology and geology of our particular site. We have studied the site extensively - we placed over 140 test borings and monitoring wells on the site, for example. After evaluating all of our data, the DEP personnel expressed their satisfaction with our application, and explained why they have concluded that the system will function properly and be protective of the environment. Key DEP personnel rejected SGOD's contentions to the contrary, as did our witnesses. For example, the credibility of SGOD's main witness, the engineer Robert Schreiber, was seriously damaged during the hearing. Our engineering team at BL Companies even did several additional soil borings on the site during the hearing – this was done to disprove a specific theory emphasized by Mr. Schreiber during his testimony. The new data we gathered conclusively showed that Mr. Schreiber was absolutely wrong. Mr. Schreiber's various contentions were also soundly rejected by Corinne Fitting, the DEP's groundwater specialist, who showed that she had a complete command of the technical issues. Marsh Impacts - SGOD Rhetoric Has No Basis in Fact Another important witness was Professor Scott Warren. Professor Warren testified on our behalf as to existing conditions in the salt marsh, and showed how Madison Landing will have no discernable impact on the marsh - in fact, we will actually improve conditions by restoring portions of the marsh that are now compromised by the invasive reed, Phragmites australis. Finally, it is important to note that SGOD’s own witnesses never provided any testimony that Madison Landing would harm the marsh in a serious way. SGOD's rhetoric has scared many residents of Madison - they say Madison Landing will "destroy" the marsh, and radically change it forever. This is hogwash, plain and simple, and not one of their own witnesses at the hearing supported that rhetoric. For example, SGOD witness, Dr. Brian Howes, an expert on the impact of nitrogen on marshes, said that Madison Landing might increase the nitrogen load to Clinton Harbor by 1 or 2%. The DEP determined that the increase would be well under 1%. But even Dr. Howes did not forecast any major impact from this increase – the only impact he testified about was the possibility that any increase in nitrogen from any new source might make it harder for eel grass to re-establish itself in Clinton Harbor. But the DEP staff testified that eel grass has not been seen in these waters for more than ten years - and Dr. Howes provided no evidence to show how eel grass would regenerate itself in the Harbor but for Madison Landing. So there was NO evidence provided by any SGOD witness of massive changes to the marsh, or anything remotely like the destruction of the marsh that SGOD's leaders like to trumpet to the public in their website, in their letters to the local newspapers, and at every opportunity when they see their neighbors. Conclusion In summary, what the DEP hearing made abundantly clear is that SGOD's story line is wildly off base - they have painted an apocalyptic scenario that is completely unsupported by anything factual – not even their hand-picked consultants will support their grossly inaccurate vision. In fact, the advanced treatment wastewater system for Madison Landing will be good for the environment and will have no adverse effect on the salt marsh. |
