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Letters to the editor
(Times Herald-Record, August 25, 2004)
KJ article wrong
We are writing to correct misinformation in the article "Court battle possible in KJ pipeline war" that appeared in your paper on July 24. In this article, the reporter has Kiryas Joel Administrator Gedalye Szegedin saying that "neither the county nor any other agencies – including Blooming Grove and Woodbury, two towns that passed resolutions opposing the pipeline – submitted written responses to the final environmental impact statement [FEIS]."
This is incorrect. Council member Lorraine McNeill submitted a written response to the FEIS, even though one copy of the FEIS was given to the Town of Woodbury with less than 48 hours for us to read and respond to it. Supervisor Sheila Conroy wrote to the DEC that she will be submitting written comments after a thorough review, and those comments are forthcoming soon. Additionally, Conroy publicly addressed the deficiencies of the FEIS in her comments to the Orange County Legislature!
The Town of Woodbury is "on the record" as to the deficiencies of both the DEIS and the FEIS for the Catskill Aqueduct-Kiryas Joel pipeline and the impacts that this project will have. Additionally, the actions by other communities, such as Blooming Grove and Washingtonville (along with Woodbury) of adopting resolutions opposing the pipeline were based on these facts that there were significant deficiencies in both documents, and that the project will have significant impacts. These are the issues.
Misinformation will only serve to create tension between municipalities and certainly not foster an environment where legitimate objections can be aired.
Sheila Conroy
Supervisor, Town of Woodbury
Lorraine McNeill
Council member, Town of Woodbury
Webmaster's Response:
Dear Lorraine:
The Town of Woodbury is well served by a public servant of your caliber. Your strict adherence to policies and procedures is refreshing.
No one disputes the fact that you, Lorraine McNeill, submitted a written response to Kiryas Joel’s FEIS. However, as a stickler to procedure, wouldn’t you agree that it should have been the Town Supervisor who responded to this inter-municipal issue? Especially on this since it viewed by many as most vital to the future of Orange County. The fact that she chose not to respond personally lends credence to Kiryas Joel Administrator Szegedin’s statement. The credibility of his statement can also not be questioned since, besides you, none of the interested parties and governmental agencies that received a copy of Kiryas Joel’s FEIS document responded to it. The entities are:
Orange County Orange County DOH Orange County DPW
Orange County Planning Town of Blooming Grove Town of Monroe
The Town of Woodbury New York State DEC New York State DOH
New York State DOT
Furthermore, you complain that the Town of Woodbury had less than 48 hours to read and respond to the FEIS. Being that you are a stickler to procedure I accept it. But your next statements fly in the face of your complaint. You write that your supervisor wrote to the DEC that she will respond, you continue; “those comments are forthcoming soon.”
Correct me if I missed something, Lorraine, but this is how I see it.
To date, a full 4 months after Kiryas Joel issued its FEIS, she has not replied. You say that she wrote, not to Kiryas Joel she didn’t, she wrote instead to the wrong agency telling them that she’ll be ignoring the state-imposed deadline and that they shouldn’t mind that. They should just sit tight and wait for her “soon forthcoming response.”
Lorraine, KJ is not spreading misinformation, these are facts that you stated. I therefore ask you; if you were in Kiryas Joel’s position how would you react?
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