I am Edna Sussman , executive director of Federated Conservationists of Westchester County. I welcome all of you to this very important program about issues that are central to our lives- our water and our health.

I thought a few short historical footnotes would set the stage for tonight's program. Waste and sewage have always been issues for humans and their handling has varied with the culture. For example, in 3500 BCE in the ancient City of Ur, a city of 65,000 people, the inhabitants dealt with their waste by sweeping it into the streets, and when the amount of waste at various times finally caused the street levels to rise, the people raised the house doors. In 320 BCE, Athens passed the first known edict banning the disposal of refuse into the streets. The Romans' waste management techniques were the most developed of any society prior to the 19th Century. With the fall of the Roman Empire came the fall of sewage systems. The disregard for sanitation brought back many problems and epidemics raged in urban areas. This was true in the United States as well. For example, in 1854, Providence, RI, then the seventh-largest community in the US, had its second cholera epidemic in five years. A sanitation movement emerged and sewage systems were developed in this country.

The matters we are dealing with tonight started with the Surface Water Treatment Rule promulgated in 1989 by the EPA pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act. That rule provided that surface water systems had to be filtered unless an acceptable comprehensive water shed protection plan is established. If such a plan is agreed to, a filtration avoidance determination can be entered. The Memorandum of Agreement, commonly referred to as the MOA, among New York City, Westchester County, EPA and others entered into with respect to the New York City water supply pursuant to which filtration of the Catskill/ Delaware system was avoided. Filtration of the Croton was required but has not yet been accomplished.

The MOA is a document of many hundreds of pages and deals with the many sources of water pollution- malfunctioning sewage treatment plants, failing septic systems and stormwater pollution, all problems here in Westchester. The MOA required the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to upgrade waste water treatment plants. There are 30 WWTP in the Croton water shed in Westchester. To date none of the upgrades on these plants have been accomplished by the City. The MOA requires the remediation of failed septics and measures to reduce storm water pollution. Failed septics continue to present significant problems and storm water pollution continues to be the source of over 80% of the pollution in the watershed.

Pursuant to the MOA, DEP gave Westchester $38 million in a water quality improvements fund. That amount has now grown with interest to $49 million. The county and DEP have been studying the question of how to improve water quality for some years now. The county has pursued an exploration of the MOA's option of considering diversion.

The board of Federated Conservationists of Westchester County working with {its board members} Katharine Mc Loughlin chapter director of the league of Conservation voters, Westchester County, and Heather Baker Sullivan, Chair Land Use Committee of the League of Women Voters , Westchester County, recognized a clear and immediate need for information about the plans being made to address these sources of pollution. These three organizations initiated this program so that the process of making plans public and engaging the public in discourse about the plans could begin. Critical water resources and health issues as well as large sums of money are at stake. Significant infrastructure decisions are in the offing.

I want one thing to be very clear - the sponsors of this program Federated Conservationists of Westchester County, NY League of Conservation Voters-Westchester Chapter, the League of Women Voters of Westchester and the co-sponsors: Cortlandt WATCH, and the League of Women Voters of Briarcliff, Ossining, Croton and Cortlandt have taken no position on the county's plans on these matters at this time. Indeed, we are here to learn with you what the plans are and to listen to your questions and the responses. We seek a solution that is environmentally sound, assures drinking water quality and is cost effective. We welcome the county's coming tonight to inform us of the plans.