Foil: Your right to Know.
May 9, 2022 Sewer overflow at the base of the hill near Hillside Ave
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐’ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐. (The CUPON Column appears weekly in the Rockland County Times).
The United States has numerous governmental agencies to preserve and maintain the environment. As often happens, the names of the agencies have lots of initials and it can be confusing to know which agency is responsible for what. The following is an explanation of 2 of the agencies CUPON deals with, the EPA and the DEC. To fully explain all of the responsibilities these agencies have would fill a book. Here is a short version.
The Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) and the NY State Dept. Environmental Conservation Agency (DEC) were both formed in 1970 to protect our natural resources in response to the growing concern about the negative impact human activity can have on the environment. The EPA is an independent Federal Agency given the responsibility by the United States Congress to enforce Federal environmental laws. The DEC was formed by the State of New York to consolidate and better organize smaller state environmental agencies. Both agencies have the authority to enforce environmental laws.
Numerous laws protecting the environment were passed in the 1970s. The Federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 was in recognition of the vital importance of maintaining clean water sources. In response, both the DEC and the EPA developed laws and systems to prevent contaminants from entering drinking water sources and to protect wetlands from development. Wetlands are a place where groundwater comes to the surface. Wetlands generally drain downhill to river systems and protect us from flooding by providing a natural sponge to soak up excess water from storms & snow. The vegetation that naturally grows in these areas filters water of impurities helping to ensure water quality. Wetlands areas contain 40% of all of the world’s species and absorb large amounts of CO2. Maintaining wetlands is considered to be a crucial component to slow down global warming.
One of the biggest sources of water pollution is stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces such as parking lots and roads as well as contaminants from construction sites. It is the DECโs responsibility to approve and monitor stormwater plans from construction sites to ensure proper plans are in place and are being maintained. The New York State DEC requires a Storm Water Permit and a Storm Water Protection Plan (SWPP) for building projects if:
– it drains to a city-owned sewer system
– disturbs 20,000 square feet or more of soil
-adds 5,000 square feet or more of new impervious area.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ญ.The plans called for most of the property to be eventually developed for 10,500 gravesites. The 2 existing wetlands and its buffers were protected by law and not to be developed. Shortly after the application was approved, the property was sold for $6.5 million dollars and the Cemetery was renamed Mechon Hoyroa by the owner Congregation Mischknois Lavier Yakov 168 Maple Ave Monsey NY 10952. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐๐.
๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ญ The property the cemetery is built on is 19.2 acres, was heavily wooded and contained 2 separate wetlands areas. Due to the size of the property, it required a Storm Water Protection Permit and a Storm Water Protection Plan (SWPP). ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.It is customary for cemeteries to be built in phases. As additional land is needed, trees will be removed.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ช๐๐จ ๐ค๐๐๐ช๐ง๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐ค๐๐๐ก, ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ก ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐จ. Despite what the building plans stipulated, the majority of the 19.2 acres were clear-cut. A primary component of almost all SWPPPโs, the silt fence wasnโt installed nor was a cache basin. The extensive tree removal caused significant water runoff issues compounded by the failure to install the required silt fence and catch basin caused silt-laden water runoff. The pavement of Hillside Ave has been severely damaged by erosion, as well as properties, driveways, and flooded basements downhill of the cemetery. The silt-laden stormwater drained directly into the wetlands near the Hillside bridge and into Saddle River part of Rockland and Bergan Countyโs drinking aquifer.
The NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation issued 3 violations letters for lacking a silt fence, no catch basin, and an insecure entrance on the following dates:
-September 2021
-November 2021
-January 2022
๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐จ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ. The EPA issued a 21-page report stating a berm, (a raised ridge) constructed of wood chips (likely from the clear-cut trees) had been built between the 2 sensitive wetland areas on the cemetery property. The Berm is 3-4 feet high and covered approximately 1.4 acres. Constructing a berm out of wood chips is generally frowned upon as it isn’t as stable as soil. The berm has changed the water drainage pattern away from the wetlands, causing its destruction. ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค ๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ญ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐จ. ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ข ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฏ-๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐จ, ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐จ.
๐ผ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐, ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ก๐ค๐ข, ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฎ๐ง๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ:
The wetlands will most likely be destroyed, as will the plants & wildlife that depended on it.
The cemetery has more buildable land to use.
The plots for this cemetery are approximately $7,000.00. The simple arithmetic of $7,000.00 x 10,500 graves is more than $70 million dollars. The number of graves was based on buildable land, which has increased. It doesn’t seem like much of a reach to see the financial incentive to dry out wetlands.
๐ก๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐ผ๐บ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐? ๐๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ผ๐, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น? ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น, ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป? ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐โ๐จ ๐พ๐ค๐ก๐ช๐ข๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ง๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐, ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ. ๐๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐ค:๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ช๐๐ฃ โ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง@๐ง๐ค๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐จ.๐๐ค๐ข ๐ค๐ง๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ โ ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ค๐ฃ๐ง๐ค๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐@๐๐ข๐๐๐ก.๐๐ค๐ข
๐ง๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฃ๐ข๐ก, ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐.๐ฐ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ.๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด.๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
