Westchester Environment 2007 Annual Report |
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| Winter 2008 | Download PDF Version | Volume 2008 No. 1 |
| The News Magazine of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County | ||
Reminder...
FCWC welcomes articles for Westchester Environment from our member organizations. Please submit them to fcwc@fcwc.org, or call our editor, Carolyn Cunninghman at the FCWC offices, (914) 422-4053 during regular business hours.
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In 2007 FCWC increased its activity on a number of ongoing issues (open space acquisition; regional solutions for flooding, reducing air pollution, and controlling construction stormwater runoff; supporting mass transit; and protecting our waterfronts) while also shifting the intensity of our focus to global warming concerns. We increased our work on ways to reduce our green houses gasses (GHG) and promote “sustainability” locally. This report highlights some of our advocacy and educational efforts. Advocacy As usual, FCWC monitored the County Board of Legislators in order to support environmentally constructive legislation. We support the legislation mentioned there plus another proposed law to give county sales tax credits for solar installations. A well attended FCWC conference co-sponsored by Pace Law School Center for Environmental Legal Studies highlighted the importance of valuing businesses by a “triple bottom line” of economic, social and environmental measures. FCWC also conducted, in cooperation with Dolph Rotfeld Engineering, meetings for public officials and others: two on the DEC regulations on post construction stormwater, soil erosion, and sediment control measures, and a third on illegal sewer discharge tracking. FCWC continued to co-sponsor
with the Westchester County Parks Department and several other
groups the “Conversations on Conservation.” These
morning café meetings drew a large attendance during the year
to programs on: the future of Westchester’s trees, reducing
fl ooding by saving nature, and “Biomimicry:Innovation inspired
by Nature.” This last meeting featured
FCWC’s We issued statements and presented testimony at hearings, including the SEQR hearing on the centralized deicing facility at Westchester County Airport, which we support, but urged mitigation of the planned addition of an acre of impervious surface in the Blind Brook watershed. We supported the passage of the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, the alternative of commuter rail for the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 corridor study, and opposed the relicensing of Indian Point without addressing our concerns.
Education In addition to meetings and conferences, members and supporters received four quarterly issues of Westchester Environment (WE) as well as monthly e-mail newsletters of environmental events, issues and action alerts. Our Westchester Environmental Student Council (WESC) focused on gaining new student members in communities with minority students. New contacts and a meeting in New Rochelle and in Yonkers helped advance the students’ SNAP! program for reducing air pollution from school busses and on school grounds. Earth Day participation and activities such as our beach cleanup remained popular. Green Seal Honorees at our Annual Meeting in June were honored for either switching to ultra low sulfur diesel fuel - Metro North and Westchester County Department of Transportation and its Commissioner Larry Salley - or for its new impressive “green” building in White Plains – New York Power Authority. Cesare Manfredi was elected new FCWC president, as Dr. Herbert Fox stepped down. Two meetings of our coalition of local member organizations were held for north and south county groups. Member representatives from 25 of our groups helped direct FCWC energies this year on the need for intermunicipal and regional solutions and new county land use authority to focus on flooding. Board Activities FCWC board members continue to be involved in numerous other environmental groups including Westchester County’s Global Warming Task Force, its Tappan Zee Bridge and Deer Task Forces, and the County Soil and Water Conservation Board. One board member already on the Hudson River Valley Watershed Alliance Steering Committee, and Land Trust Alliance, joined the board of the Native Plant Center, while another board member was appointed to the new Yonkers Green Policy Task Force and joined the Yonkers Committee for Smart Development. Our Vice-president Steve Levy was honored to receive a National Biodiesel Board award in 2007. The annual Fall Benefit honored Teatown Lake Reservation (an FCWC member organization for many years), its Executive Director, Fred Koontz, and FCWC board member and former president, Warren Ross, who retired this year. It drew a large crowd to the beautiful Scarborough home of board member Sharon Pickett and her husband Paul Mazzilli. Our Grants and Donors FCWC received a $10,000 grant from the Elias Foundation for our work with WESC high school students on their SNAP! program. We sincerely thank them and the other foundations and sponsors, shown on the accompanying list of grants and donors, from which we received generous support this past year. |
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“Crude
Awakening” and Bill McKibben A landmark event occurred on November 9 when FCWC joined forces with the Jacob Burns Film Center. A buffet supper was served at the Jackson Wheeler Restaurant, as Sally Odland, geologist at Lamont Dougherty, and Maureen Morgan, FCWC board member and columnist for the Business Journal, led the group in a discussion on ‘peak oil’. There was lively interchange on this difficult subject. Peak oil is the term that describes the world’s energy reserves before the output begins a steady decline. The US oil reserves peaked thirty years ago. Mexico’s Cantarell, its largest oil reserve, is now peaking. Mexico is the third highest importer for US oil. There has even been the suggestion that Ghawar Reserve in Saudi Arabia, the mamma of all the world’s reserves, may be approaching peak. The film “Crude Awakening”, shown around the corner at the Jacob Burns Film Center, minced no words regarding the insecurity of the global oil supply, dominantly controlled by unstable countries or those hostile to this country. The future for alternative energy, according to the fi lm, even at its most highly developed and distributed, cannot come close to the role played by oil in the developed and developing world. Therefore, it is clear we need to learn how to live on less energy. The film, “Crude Awakening”, followed by a talk by Bill McKibben, provided both a rather severe reality check as to the energy crisis that is just over the horizon, while at the same time giving us hope that we can redesign what we consider essential to our lives. McKibben’s book – Deep Economy should be must-reading. NOTE: Look for more FCWC activity on the future of the Tappan
Zee Bridge and the benefits of commuter rail in the east-west corridar,
linking fi ve rail lines and four states. |
County Launches 3 Green Actions Westchester County Offi cials have taken three initiatives that FCWC commends and strongly supports: County Executive Spano announced a new enforcement effort for the County’s mandatory recycling law. Recycling rose to a high of 46 percent in 2006 but then began to level off. To reverse this trend, starting February 1, 2008, recyclables that are not properly separated will not get picked up either by municipal or private haulers. Informational material in print or video are available by calling (914) 813-5420 or at www.westchestergov.com/recycling. In 2007, Westchester banned the use of highly-polluting leaf blowers on County owned land and by licensed home improvement contractors. Legislator Tom Abinanti has introduced legislation to set up a County-wide storm water drainage district. Recognizing that local communities need help to solve flooding problems, the proposed law would emphasize regional and County-wide planning, assess existing storm drain systems, and construct a coordinated regional system. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after studying the application
by Broadwater to build a liquefied natural Says FERC: “In summary, we determined that, with strict adherence to federal and state permit requirements and regulations. The project would result in limited adverse impact to the environment.” This means that if New York State issues the required permits it looks like only the legal challenges by environmental organizations will stand in the way of this industrial installation in the Sound |
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By Mimi Bateman Some leaf blowers powered by two-stroke engines may emit as much as 25 percent raw, unburned gasoline in their exhaust. Incredibly, an ineffi cient leaf blower operating for 30 minutes puts out more emissions than an automobile traveling 2000 miles! Westchester County legislation enacted in April requires these high-polluting leaf blowers be replaced by cleaner ones over a two year period. Fifty percent of the inefficient leaf blowers used by landscapers must be replaced by January 1, 2008 and by January 1, 2009, all county employees and private contractors on county-owned land and all other licensed landscaping and gardening businesses anywhere in the County may use only the latest EPA approved leaf blowers. Interestingly, the Westchester municipalities which have already banned or limited leaf blower use during non-peak clean up periods have enacted the legislation principally due to noise pollution concerns. Such legislation exists in Bronxville, Dobbs Ferry, Greenburgh, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Pelham, Scarsdale, and White Plains. Several municipalities are currently considering bans, in an effort to mitigate air pollution as well as decrease noise. The City of Rye is considering a new proposal, and as of this writing, Hastings-on-Hudson is considering a ban, and would hold the homeowner accountable. The mayor of Yonkers recently vetoed a ban which had been unanimously approved by the City Council, as it had passed without the knowledge of lawn care professionals. The veto is expected to be overridden. Mimi Bateman is a member of the new Environmental Advocacy Group of Rye. |
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| February
Release of Global After meeting and working all year on an action plan to reduce green house gasses (GHG) and promote sustainable development in the County, the Westchester County Global Warming Task Force is set to release its report and action plan on February 26. The group will hold a major educational event on that date at the Reid Castle at Manhattanville College to unveil the plan. The plan promises to be of great interest to all FCWC members. FCWC has several representatives on the Task Force including the co-chair of the group, Robert Funicello, and former president Herbert Fox, who is usually represented by our program director, Adiel Gavish.
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Cesare Manfredi Appointed FCWC president Cesare Manfredi was recently appointed by the NYS Attorney General’s Office to the Advisory Review Team for the distribution of funds from the Bronx River Watershed Initiative (BRWI). This fund is one of three grant sources available from the 2007 Long Island Sound Futures Fund administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in cooperation with the Long Island Sound Study. The BRWI has $1.5 million available for grants for stormwater retrofi t projects, including Low Impact Development initiatives, and to address the root causes of pollution from stormwater outfalls in order to improve water quality and river ecology along the Bronx River. The funds come from a $7 million settlement generated by the NYS Attorney General’s Offi ce resulting from violations associated with discharges of raw sewage into the Bronx River from storm sewers. Requests for proposals are currently being solicited, which must be postmarked by February 19, 2008. More information can be found at http://www.nfwf.org under “ Grants”, then “Browse Special Grants Programs” and click on Long Island Sound Futures Fund. |
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| FCWC Would Like to Thank Our Supporters | ||
Grantors Conservationists Circle The Paul Mazzilli & Sharon
Pickett Family Fund Preservationists Ms. Brooke M. Beebe Benefactors Mr. & Mrs.
Joseph Aresty
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Sponsors Ms. Alison Beall |
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| Corporate & Other Supporters Red Oak GM Power Train Evergreen Accenture We wish to apologize for any mistakes or omissions we may have made in recognizing our supporters. Please let us know of any corrections.
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Supporting Organizations Beczak Environmental Education Center |
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| FCWC's 2007 Members | ||
| Honorable Thomas J. Abinanti Mr. David Adams Dr. & Mrs. Harold Adel Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Aresty Ms. Gail Averill Ms. Elizabeth Baker Mr. Kevin Barrett & Ms. Laura Cunningham Barrett Ms. Sher Bauer Ms. Alison Beall Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Bear Ms. Brooke Beebe Ms. Mary F. Begrisch Hory Mr. & Mrs. Paul Benowitz Mr. F. Warren Benton Ms. Jane Berger Ms. Anne Bishop Ms. Jan Blaire Mr. Doug Bloom Mr. & Mrs. Murray Bodin Ms. Catherine Borgia Mr. & Mrs. Kevin M. Boyd Mr. Noam Bramson Mr. Berl Brechner Mr. David Bryan Ms. Miriam Buegeleisen Mr. & Mrs. John Carey Mr. Timothy Carey Mr. & Mrs. John Carey Mr. Robert Carroll Ms. Katherine S. Carsky Mr. & Mrs. Scott Cartwright Lauriston & Valerie Castleman Ms. Elizabeth Ceppos Ms. Jinx Chapman Mrs. Susan Cherbuliez Ms. Barbara Clapman Mr. & Mrs. Robert Clyatt Hon.. Nicola S. Coddington The Honorable Linda G. Cooper Ms. Lisa A. Copeland Ms.Lena Crandall Ms. Carolyn Cunningham Frank & Cynthia Curtis Mr. Neil Cutler Ms. Mary Davis Mr. Steven Davis Ms. Mary DiBernardo Ms. Carolyn Dilemme Mr. Alan E. Dillon Mr. J. Michael Divney Ms. Marilyn Donahue Ms. Alexandra Dunn Ms. Alison H. Dunscomb Ms. Janice P. Dutcher Dr. Lee. Ehrman Mr. & Mrs. Greg Elbin Mr. Timothy Ellis Mrs. Jules Enrich Mr. Peter Q. & Pauline S. Eschweiler Mr. Henry Fair Mr. John Feingold Ms. Jan Feinman Mr. & Mrs. Peter Felcher Mr. & Mrs. Louis Finkelstein Ms. Noreen Fisher Ms. Michelle M. Florence Dr. & Mrs. Herbert Fox Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Fredston Mr. Robert Funicello Honorable Sandra R. Galef Mr. Serge Nivelle & Ms. Paula Gamache Ms. Susan Garavaglia Ms. Ellen Gelboim Mr. & Mrs. Michael Gerrard Ms. Heather Gerson Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Glaser Ms. Celeste Anne Goethe Mr. Richard Goldsmith Mr. Glenn P. Goldstein Mr. Eric A. Goldstein Ms. Carole Griffiths Mr. Alan Grotenstein Mr. Jared Haines Mr. Chris Hall Ms. Maureen Hanagan Ms. Barbara Matthews Hancock Mr. Adam Handler Mr. & Mrs. Michael Hegarty Paul & Barbara Hicks Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Hilbert Ms. Gail M. Hintz Ms. Lydia Howie Ms. Julie Hughes Ms. Leslie Hughes Mr. & Mrs. Kurt Hundgen The Honorable Timothy C. Idoni Ms. Janet Jaidi Ms. Terry Joshi Mr. John A. Voulgaris & Ms. Andrea Jurgrau Ellen & Joseph Kaidanow Ms. Marcia Kapilow Ms. Kerri A. Kazak Ms. Patricia Keesee Mr. Richard P. Kelisky Ms. Alicia Kelligrew Mr. John Kirkpatrick Mr. Erik Kiviat Ms. Judy Klein Ms. Barbara Klein Mr. Gerald & Hon. Marlene Kolbert Dr. Fred Koontz Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Kornreich Mr. Jim Kwik Ms. Joanne Landau Mr. Peter Lane Ms. Margaret Lanz The Honorable George Latimer Mr. Daniel M. Laub, Esq. Mr. William Lawyer Mr. Eugene I. Lebwohl Ms. Christine Lehner Mr. Pincus Leitner Ms. Goody LeLash Ms. Rose S. Leon Marlene & Armand Lerner Mr. Robert Levine Mr. Steven Levy |
Mr. & Mrs. Paul Lewis Ms. Gloria Lewit Ms. Cheryl W. Lewy Mr. & Mrs. Peter R. Limburg Ms. Phoebe Lindsay Mr. Jason Lohr Mr. Michael Love Mrs. Tatiana L. Lowe Lou & Helen Lowenstein Mr. John Lyons Mr. & Mrs. Doug Maass Mr. Keith MacBeth David & Frances Magee Mr. Cesare Manfredi Mr. & Mrs. Charles L. Massey Ms. Susan McDonnell Ms. Ann McDuffie Mr. Thomas W. McEnerney Ms. Katharine McLoughlin Mr. Alex Melathe Mr. John Messina Ms. Jane Kerin Moffat c/o Ms. Pru Montgomery David & Katherine Moore Ms. Nancy G. Moore David & Katherine Moore Ms. Nancy Moore Ms. Maureen M. Morgan Ms. Angel Hart Morris Ms. Sandy Morrissey Mr. Joseph Murdock Ms. Mary Beth Murphy Mr. & Mrs. Alan Murray Hon. Judith A. Myers Ms. Eda Newhouse Ms. Kelly S. Newsome Mr. James F. Nordgren Mr. & Mrs. Robert November Mr. Larry O'Connell Ms. Sally Odland Ms. Patricia Lynn Oliva Honorable Suzi Oppenheimer Mr. George Oros Mr. Drew Panko Mr. Winthrop T. Parker III Mr. David Parsons Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin Ms. Isobel Perry Ms. Sharon Pickett & Mr. Paul Mazzilli Mr. Shateek Pinckey Ms. Renee M. Pirone Reid & Marguerite Pitts Ms. Miriam Popp Mr. Joseph R. Potenza Mr. Dennis Power Marcia & Richard Presser Mr. Herzl Ragins Mr. Frank Murphy & Ms. Deborah Reich Ms. Julia Rellou & Mr. Dimitri Rellos Paul & Joyce Rheingold William & Cynthia Roberts Mr. Alexander Roberts William & Cynthia Roberts Professor & Mrs. Nicholas Robinson Phyllis & Orlando Rodriguez Honorable Martin Rogowsky Ms. Marian H. Rose Warren & Lucile Ross Ms. Polly Rothstein Ms. Carol J. Ryan Mr. Corey Rywalt Dr. Emma Lou Sailors Mr. Oreon Sandler Mr. Leonard Aubrey & Ms. Kathleen Savolt Mr. George Schweitzer & Ms. Kate Kelly Hon. Nancy Seligson Ms. Janet Seus Ms. Carol E. Shanesy Mr. Leonard Sherman Mr. Eric Sigel Mr. & Mrs. David Silverstone Mr. & Mrs. John Simons Rabbi Melvin N. Sirner Mr. Robert B. Sitar Ms. Ruth Slater Mrs. Elizabeth C. Sluder Mr. Clinton Smith Ms. Barbara Smith Ms. Nortrud W. Spero Ms. Martha Spofford Mr. & Mrs. Arthur H. Stampleman Mr. & Mrs. Greg Stanton Mr. Frank Stern Mr. Stewart Strauss Mrs. Carolyn Summers President Saw Mill River Audubon Mr. David Swope Mr. Walter D. Terrell, Jr. Mr. Daniel Tillman Mr. Steven Tilly & Ms. Elizabeth Martin Mr. Donald R. Tomlin Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Tritsch Ms. Petra Troise Mr. Frederick W. Turner Mr. Donald van Rhyn Ms. Marie R. Venezia Mr. Alan R. Viani Ms. Linda Viertel Ms. Nancy M. Vincent Tom & Marcy Vogel Ms. Irma K. Volk Ms. Meg Walker Dr. John D. Wehr Ms. Elizabeth S. Weiner Ms. Judith Widmann Geoffrey & Margaret Wiener Peter & Roberta Wiernik Delsa & Steve Wilson Ms. Phyllis Wittner Mr. Jim Wood Douglas A. & Patricia J. Wood Mr. Jim Wood Ms. Sylvia Zola Ms. Jacki Zuckerberg Mr. Jeff Zuckerman |
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