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MINUTES COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE JULY 22, 1997 2:30 P.M.
PRESENT: Chair Carsky, Leg. LaMotte, Delfino
Chair Darcy, Legs. Stewart- Cousins, Mosiello, Noto
ALSO PRESENT: Comm. Trelewicz, Mr. Zabinski, Mr. Donohue, Mr. Yoegel-DEF Dr. Adel and Mr. Haloukas-Health Ms. D’Ambrosio-Law, Mr. Hosey, Ms. LeLash-FCWC, Mr. Anderson-Gannett, Cesare Manfredi-State DEC, Ms. Roet, Mr. Sandford, Mrs. Gorski, Mr. Gretsas, Mrs. Keating
ITEMS DISCUSSED:
Long Island Sound Spill. Chair Carsky called the Environment Committee to order at 2:45 P.M. Chair Darcy called the Public Safety Committee to order at 2:45 P.M.
Chair Carsky stated that this is a follow-up meeting from two weeks ago. Mr. Manfredi will give us a report first. Our hope at the end is to have better facts at hand for Westchester’s response in the future.
Chair Darcy thanked all for being here to clarify all statements which seem to be at cross-purposes.
Mr. Manfredi stated he is here to listen and explain as best as he can on what the DEC will be doing. Mr. Manfredi stated that the main purpose is for communication and it will be addressed at an upcoming meeting with Regions 1,2, and 3 and the State of Page 2 July 22 ENV/PSCJ
Connecticut and the State Health Department. The purpose is to improve upon the communication network. Better distribution of phone numbers needs to take place in cases of emergency.
Chair Darcy quoted an article in the New York Time to Mr. Manfredi and felt the comments were not justified as to what events did take place.
Mr. Manfredi stated that the Health Department collected elevated chloroforms which would cause the beaches to close. The Health Department did a prudent thing in closing the beaches.
Chair Darcy stated that this was caused by a leakage in the New York City System. Mr. Manfredi stated yes.
Chair Darcy stated that before the break the beaches were clean and after the break they were not usable. Mr. Manfredi stated that it is just coincidental.
Chair Carsky asked if the DEC has any responsibility and Mr. Manfredi said yes and that the plants are inspected and monitored quarterly.
Mr. Manfredi has spoken to his counterpart in New York City and this matter will be addressed.
Chair Carsky stated that she received a letter from the FCWC stating that the overflow from NYC was caused by faulty equipment.
Dr. Adel stated that raw sewage has nobody’s name on it. One question is should the beaches have been closed and another questions to be answered is because it happened in New York City..
Dr. Adel stated that the 15 million gallons that spilled made it necessary to close the beaches until we knew what course the flow would take.
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Dr. Adel stated that the County Health Departments uses visual to detect the plume. The Coast Guard, using their equipment advised the County Health Department that there would be effects in New Rochelle in five hours. Therefore, Dr. Adel felt it was necessary to close all beaches until it was clear from the helicopter observation that the plume broke up and water-samplings were clear..
Dr. Adel stated that he cannot prove where it came from but his responsibility is public health. The State Dept. of Health complimented the County Health Department on the way they handled this situation.
Mr. Haloukas stated that we received the call on a Saturday at 2:30 P.M. and explained what transpired regarding the spill and what to do about closing the beaches
Mr. Haloukas stated that New York City checks their pumps once a day and the last time it was checked was Friday at 5:30 p.m. That means the spill could have occurred anytime between 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. when it was detected. Since this event, New York City now checks twice a day.
Chair Darcy asked if twice a day was enough, but Commr. Trelewicz stated that Westchester County only does it once a day but Westchester County has more alarms and updated equipment.
Mr. Mosiello stated that he would like to applaud Dr. Adel for what he did during this time. However, we had this spill and our beaches were fouled and that the likely reason is from this spill but no one will tell us if it was caused by the spill.
Chair Darcy stated that we need better communication. There has to be a standard someplace for everyone to follow in these cases.
Dr. Adel stated that the beaches were closed on an assumption. My only concern is what will I do the next time, Page 4 ENV/PSCJ July 22
because there will be a next time. A model is a model and it is not the absolute answer.
Mr. Manfredi wanted to make a clarification on the model - temperature matters. If the water temperature is different, the plume can go a different way.
Leg. Stewart-Cousins stated that she doesn’t know if she has a sense of comfort or a sense of fright. Shouldn’t this have gone to Long Island. Mr. Manfredi stated that as per the model, it should have.
Leg. LaMotte stated that this has happened before and it will happen again. Why can’t this be stopped in the creek before it gets to Long Island Sound? How does it compare with infiltration of storm water.
Comm. Trelewicz stated that it matters where it is coming from.
Mr. Manfredi stated that the City Office of DEC has quarterly meeting with DEP and they will come to some conclusion and those violations will be answered then.
Comm. Trelewicz will request the reports but he stated that the quarterly meetings are a whole other issue.
Mr. Mosiello again asked if raw sewage in any way was detected but no on would answer him.
Dr. Adel did state, "it looked and smelled like sewage but he cannot say for certain where it came from".
Ms. D’Ambrosio stated that we could bring about an action for funds we expended for clean-up, but it would be very difficult to proceed.
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What we can conclude from this is that it is up to the DEC to enforce for this spillage.
Chair Carsky asked if there will there be a report from Thursday’s meeting that we can receive and Dr. Adel stated there will be representatives from Westchester County there so we will know what is going on and he will provide the Committee with any documents or minutes.
Leg. Noto asked if there was any action taken to date and Mr. Manfredi stated it was not yet dealt with but it will be addressed at the next quarterly meeting.
Chair Carsky asked when that would be and he could not say.
Leg. LaMotte stated that the Health Dept. has spent in excess of $20.000. to cover the costs of the clean-up. Will they be entitled to recoup these funds?
Mr. Manfredi said that would be answered at the quarterly meeting.
It was requested that the maximum penalty be given if there was a prior violation.
Chair Carsky stated that we want to be assured that every other community within the County and outside of the County is doing its fair share on aging infra-structure.
Chair Carsky asked if there were any recommendations from any of the commissioners and they said no. She stated that we await the minutes of the meeting on Thursday and thanked everyone for coming.
On motion of Leg. LaMotte, seconded by Chair Carsky, the Environment Committee adjourned at 4:00 P.M.
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On motion of Leg. Mosiello, seconded by Leg. Stewart-Cousins, the Public Safety Committee adjourned at 4:00 P.M.
TAPE ON FILE
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