As most of you know by now, there was a special meeting in Ellenville last Friday night. The meeting focused on the now famous, leaking water tunnel that brings half of the 900 million gallons of pristine drinking water to NYC residents daily. Originating from the Rondout Reservoir and it's Delaware watershed, travelling as deep as 700 feet until it reaches the West Branch and Kensico Reservoirs.
It was a bit odd to have a public meeting with regional residents and officials on a Friday night, but it was the scheduled re-appearance of or good friends from the NYC DEP.
Commissioner Cas Holloway (pictured above) and his staff presented the Billion dollar plan to divert the tunnel for the four mile stretch where the severe leaking occurs.
After a $350 million study and repair plan, they returned to Ellenville to reveal what the locals already knew, the tunnel is indeed leaking and due in part to the miscalculation of the original engineers. Although they planned for the additional reinforcements in the limestone areas of the tunnel, they fell several hundred feet short of the possible trouble zones. Limestone interacts with the tunnel structure in a more corrosive manor than the rest of the encountered rock base.
It took decades for New York City to acknowledge what the locals have suffered for so long. The fact that the tunnel is leaking millions of gallons under the towns of Newburgh and Wawarsing is nothing new. In Wawarsing alone, the tunnel is 700' below the surface.
The tremendous pressure in the tunnel forces the escaping water upward toward the surface. That soil deposit above the bedrock shown on the slide behind Commissioner Holloway is totally saturated with water. It has reached the sewers, wells and basements of the properties in the affected area. Rendering the property owners with worthless investments and diminished livelihoods.
Believe it or not, there is a continuing federal study trying to confirm that the leaking tunnel, losing 40million gallons every day, is actually the source of the flooding in the areas affected. I just shook my head in disbelief when I heard that. If the officials in NYC had any sense, they would have bought out the 40+ homeowners in the Wawarsing area a long time ago and concentrated on the repair strategy instead.
The tunnel diversion will extend 4 miles and allow crews to repair the cracked tunnel structure and inspect for other damage while the tunnel is dewatered. My concern, knowing that the tunnel hasn't been dewatered since '57, and has operated under high pressure since then, might the integrity of the tunnel be compromised with the excessive water reserve resting above the tunnel in the stressed areas of damage?
The Ulster County Legislature voted unanimously to urge New York State to compensate the property owners to do just that this past summer. A number of us Legislators and residents went to Albany with that resolution to lobby or representatives. The State Senate had already passed the resolution and had sent it to the Assembly. We did our best to convince our Assemblymen to bring it to the floor, but it went nowhere. Since this posting, Assemblyman Cahill made the effort to explain the daunting opposition in both the Housing Committee and the full body, would have pretty much killed the bill on arrival.
Langdon Chapman, (left) speaking on behalf of Senator Bonacic, informed the gathering that the Senator would indeed offer the legislation for a revote this year. Lets see what happens in the Assembly in 2011.As you may have read in the Record, Freeman and NYTimes, construction isn't expected to start until June of 2013 and end by February 2019. The water pressure and leaking cracks wont be addressed until the dewatering around 2017. Thats going to further complicate the surface and above tunnel integrity until that time. There are no plans to artificially drain the saturated soil above the tunnel so the damage is unrepairable. The properties will never be made whole. the sink-holes will continue to plague the region and in the case of the repair crews underground, will threaten the lives of those who chose to work in the tunnel.
Commissioner Holloway said the project will create 1,000 to 1,500 jobs. Insisting that there will be a hiring office in this area. When pressed on this point, he said Town of Newburgh, followed by a request for a hiring post in the Ellenville area as well.
It's estimated that the leaks may have started as early as the 60's considering how long it would take to saturate so much soil above the tunnel. Andrea Smith dealt with her contaminated well and flooded basement a while before contacting the DEP and NYC authorities on the matter in '92. She asked the panel: "How is this going to affect us 20 years from now? I have been patient with the process so far, but I'm not getting any younger."
Adam Bosch had reported in the Record, that about 10 homeowners have an ongoing lawsuit against New York City, and Holloway said settlement negotiations have begun with a handful of them. I personally find it absurd that they would hesitate to make good on the claims that have come to them after so much evidence in the affirmative. It's equivalent to finding someone "not guilty" after years of imprisonment. How do you compensate for time lost fighting for a secure floodfree life?
This isn't over yet.
6 comments:
It's great that the DEP finally owns up to the fact that the tunnel in Wawarsing has been leaking. There was denial on there part as folks had to struggle with water filled basements, unhealthy mold and an environment that none of us would want in our homes. Don't you think those people should be compensated for all they have gone through?
What the frack was Zimet doing there?
Great Caesar's Ghost
Nice to have you back Mike. The problems throughout the county are numerous. Some are no fault of the residents or those who represent them. This issue does have a blame to lay.
The NYC comptrollers office has dragged the issue for too many years in hopes of exasperating the "hicks" from upstate. With a new comptroller and newly assigned Commissioner, you may see an accelerated level of cooperation on thier part. I know I'll be paying attention to how this goes down because it will be a good indicator of things to come in NY State.
Thank you for posting.
We really don't know where the Resolution will go when the leadership is in such a mess. If Bonacic can get it through, good for him. Whether Cahill is successful is another story. That opens up a very different set of circumstances because the majority is based in the area most affected financially. It will be a tough fight.
Those same legislators are going to have to head back up and lobby the he'll out of these guys to make any impact.
Good luck Mike. I think you're gonna need it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFmIKZwkvkQ&feature=player_embedded
As I recall the issue with the Assembly last year. Cahill held it up becuase it did not have enough support and would have failed. That would have been the end of that. Now it can be reintroduced with a chance to garner more support and hopefully pass.
Thank God Cahill had enough foresight to get it held up and not succumb to pressure to work towards getting it to a vote. At least it has a fighting chance now. Had Cahill listened to certain very inexperienced, and some very experienced County Legislators, it would all over and Warwarsing would be out of luck.
hey 5:46... nice try, but that's bullshit
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