ROCKLAND'S PARKS: How Lucky We Are!

R. Allan Beers, Coordinator, Rockland County Division of Environmental Resources
Michael DiMola, Park Manager, Rockland County Parks Department

Lunch will be provided by the Board of Directors.

Warmest thanks to our members, those renewing and those joining for the first time.  Your dues and contributions provide the income for this nonprofit, volunteer organization.  Please know that your support is most encouraging and deeply appreciated.

-  Betty Hedges, President

RCCA Eleanor Burlingham Award

This award is given each year to a graduating senior from a Rockland County high school who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in environmental conservation.  Applications for the $500 award have been sent to all high schools, and the winner will be honored at RCCA's Summer Quarterly Meeting in July.

For further information, you may call Faith Leigh at 357-1166 or Jeanne Nelson at 358-1934.

In accordance with Article X of the By-Laws, the following slate is proposed:

Term of two (2) years

First Vice President  -   Faith Leigh

Third Vice President  -   Chuck Stead

Treasurer  -    Eloise Litman

Secretary   -    Helen Hannigan

Director Ramapo  -   Geoffrey Welch

Director Haverstraw  -    Frank Leonard

Assistant Director Clarkstown -   Joan King

Assistant Director Stony Point  -   Michael Diederich

Directors at Large - Term of one (1) year
Diane Gruskin, Cynthia McKenney, Jeanne Nelson, Robert Nelson, Guillermo Saar

Continuing in Office

President - Betty Hedges, Second Vice President - Dorice Madronero
 Directors - Zipporah Fleisher, Catherine Dodge, Doris Metraux, Netta Riba, Julius Levine

Honorary Members
Earl Gordon, Elly Wane, Malcolm Wane

"There's other than blood can run in veins,"
said the syrup man.
"Take the maple.  Outward bark
is hard on the hand but I lay my ear on it;
hear things.
Hear what races inside.  What races inside
is what you want.  Steal it, drill a hole, steal it.
I know when.
The first warm days and cold nights
when the owls scream
is when.
Those warm days the hunkered down sap
will rise to the buds
but come dark, that sap drops back,
hides in the roots waiting for the sun.
You want to hit the virgin runs first.
Those will give you the sugar that swells the buds.
"Now boil the water out of it 'til it's pure,
take it up on a spoon.  If it holds the sunlight
there on that spoon you eat it then.
That sun will run in your veins too.
I'll let you have a pint
for five dollars sixty seven cents."

- Noel Smith Fernandez

On April 20, 2004, the RCCA Board of Directors adopted a Resolution opposing the re-licensing of Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3.

Excerpts from the Resolution:

Whereas, Indian Point 2 and 3 were initially licensed based on Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations promulgated over 30 years ago, and if plant owners were to apply for a license to operate a nuclear power plant at the Indian Point site today, it would not likely be granted by the NRC under its current standards and regulations, specifically prohibiting the siting of nuclear power plants based on population density considerations, and

WHEREAS, Taking into consideration the current NRC licensing requirements for a nuclear power plant, Indian Point's aging plants and equipment, the multiple, newer energy options available today, and the constant threat of being a prime target for an act of terrorism, it is the responsibility of this body, in the interest of public safety, to call on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to dismiss future applications and not grant their renewal, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Rockland County Conservation Association oppose the re-licensing of Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3 when their current licenses expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively, and that the NRC prohibit Entergy Corp's Indian Point 2 and 3 from being re-licensed, and to make this finding as soon as possible so that all concerned and involved parties can devote their time and resources to finding alternatives to the existing nuclear power plants, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the NRC should modify, through its GEIS process, its siting regulations to reflect current considerations including that of terrorism...

*

RCCA's action on Indian Point goes back many years.  In 1974, it joined with the Westchester-based Citizens' Committee for the Protection of the Environment in petitioning the Atomic Energy Commission to show cause why Construction Authority for Indian Point 3 and Operating Authority for Indian Point 1 and 2 should not be revoked.

An estimated twenty million people live within a 50-mile radius of Indian Point.  Common sense dictates that the facility should be shut down.  We are much concerned about the collapse of common sense.

Mercury is a well-documented potent, neurotoxin.  It is often associated with the Mad Hatter in the classic story written by Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.”  Mercury was used in making felt hats and acute mercury poisoning of workers was known as "Mad Hatters Syndrome.”  This exposure resulted in tremors and psychiatric disorders.  The riddles presented at the tea- party and throughout the story remind us that things are not always what they seem.

Founders of the Toxic Exposure Study Trust (TEST) Foundation, Dr. Boyd Haley, Ph.D., Biochemist, Professor & Chair of the Chemistry Department of the University of Kentucky and Dr. Curt Pendergrass, Ph.D., Toxicologist and President of Alt Inc., state their motto as, "absence of proof is not proof of absence.”  These words could not be more telling than when considering the many areas where mercury wreaks havoc with our health and environment.

Fossil fuel burning power plants, particularly coal, emit mercury in their emissions.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently reviewing its mercury cap and trade program.  RCCA supports stricter guidelines to eliminate mercury emissions be implemented, and not the notion that hot spots of mercury can be effectively traded away.

As one who grew up near the coal burning Lovett Power Plant in Tomkins Cove, there were emissions spewed that left a black film throughout the area, which was reportedly a result of puff-backs.  These troubling emissions were difficult to remove from surfaces, but remain a far greater threat to the health of the residents and environment.

Trading mercury credits will not remove the film from the homes in areas of greatest impact, nor will those credits reduce the burden to the health of many communities.  We do not breathe averaged air; we breathe what is in our immediate surroundings.  To consider the impact of mercury credits to an individual is as effective as suggesting that a person breathing in the ocean air from the shores of Hawaii could be equitably credited and experienced at the same time by one standing in Tomkins Cove, NY.  While the overall statistics of global air quality may experience an averaged benefit, the child taking in the mercury load in the greatest area of impact will be subjected to one of the most potent neurotoxins known.

The seduction of statistics should not overshadow the realities of the cumulative exposure of mercury in our dental amalgams and food chain.  Mercury emissions from power plants should be removed, not given greater consideration than public health and the environment.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is seeking public comment on the Preliminary Draft for Proposed Standards for the Management of Elemental Mercury and Dental Amalgam Wastes at Dental Facilities.  RCCA will be offering comment on this issue.  The waste poses a considerable exposure to the environment and public health.  Of course, the issue of why mercury is placed in dental fillings raises another very contested practice in dentistry.

Dorice Madronero, 2^nd vp RCCA

Village of Upper Nyack

As part of the obligations as an MS4 under the Federal Storm Water Phase II of the Clean Water Act, the village has enlisted an environmental educator, Siobhan O'Malley.  She will function as the Village Librarian of Environmental Literature as well as the Environmental Program Director.  The library will be located in the meeting room of the Village Hall and will consist of information gathered from the EPA, Cornell Cooperative Extension and other sources.  Siobhan is also developing educational programs and workshops to inform village residents on means to reduce stormwater runoff and stormwater pollution.  Correct stream maintenance is another important goal.

The initial educational outreach will occur at the annual Goosetown Bazaar at the Upper Nyack Elementary School.  The village is sponsoring a booth where booklets and brochures from the EPA on reducing stormwater runoff and stormwater pollution will be distributed.  A highlight of the booth will be the presentation of information (and perhaps a demonstration) on "rain gardens" - attractive collections of plants native to the area that can be successfully planted in swales, which can help trap and hold stormwater runoff.  The rain garden design was pioneered by the Native Plant Society of New Jersey.

The village is also planning an environmental education day at the upper meadow at Nyack Beach State Park.  There will be four environmental messages conveyed during the program, with the prevention of uncontrolled stormwater runoff being one of them.  The village is working with Tom Perry, the Environmental Club of Nyack High School and Cornell Cooperative Extension on the program.  The tentative date is June 5, pending approval by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.  More information on this program will be available within two weeks.

Finally, the village is again enlisting the assistance of Americorps members to help with the storm drain and outfall mapping required as part of Phase II.  This work was begun last summer and will be completed this year.

- Emma Leigh Goodwin (845-358-4610)
  RCCA Board of Directors

County Executive's Seventh Annual Outstanding Environmental Volunteer Award

Dr. Constantine Gletsos has won the County Executive's Seventh Annual Outstanding Environmental Volunteer Award for 2004.  Mayor Herbert Marshall nominated Dr. Gletsos for this tribute, citing his exceptional environmental accomplishments on behalf of the Village of Pomona.

Among Dr. Gletsos' many achievements is the formation of the Village of Pomona Stream Team.  Under his leadership, the team has applied 526 storm drain markers along 21 miles of village roadways.

On Earth Day, April 22, 2004, a tree was planted in his honor at Kennedy Dells County Park.  County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef hosted the ceremony.  In addition to the tree, Dr. Gletsos' name will be added to a plaque featuring the previous award recipients, which is permanently displayed at the County Executive's office.

The prior Outstanding Environmental Award winners were: Charles Schwep, Betty Hedges, Zipporah Fleisher, Colleen and Harold Liedy, George Zoebelein and Geoffrey Welch.

County Executive Vanderhoef initiated this unique annual award, "to salute dedicated volunteers who often go unrecognized for their good deeds.  These are people who care for our parks, champion our watershed programs, encourage recycling and enhance and beautify our environment."

- Diane Gruskin, Executive Director Rockland County Environmental Management Council

Reminder - RCCA dues for 2004 were payable in January.  If you have not done so, please renew.  We need you.

RCCA Newsletter - Betty Hedges
Distribution - Faith Leigh, Ira Hedges

Return to TOP of page